The Dark Maiden
by TwistedTelepath
Summary: We all know about two centuries ago, Jesse Black was turned into a vampire. But by who? Meet Eva Badica, the vampire responsible. After her protégé betrays her, she's left prejudice, with a mindset not to trust anyone—primarily the gang. But as she unwillingly sides with them, she finds herself growing soft for one in particular. Starts off with TCFE. Benny/OC
1. Prologue

**A/N: See, I've been hyping about this for a while, and now, I've finally completed this story, both in editing and writing. It took a while... well, not really... I had to re-watch and re-watch and re-watch the movie to make sure I got my facts right, you know, about Black's Church and blah, blah, blah, to make sure I wasn't being too illogical. So, to basically sum this whole thing up, I was wondering one day about _who _exactly made Jesse and how he was built to the dick we all know and maybe love or hate. I always enjoy a good villain. So, this story revolves around notorious vampire Eva Badica, a girl who has been frozen at age 16 for over five centuries and has learned from her immortal mistakes and experiences. She's kind of bitchy and cold, but she kind of sheds that later on... _kind of._ So, she doesn't like to put her faith in people too much, and she doesn't really like playing hero.**

**And you guys might be wondering, "Why the hell did she put up a picture of Nina Dobrev for the cover?!" Well, her appearance is somewhat similar to Eva's, or how I picture it, and it'll be a little easier to just imagine Nina rather than make up an image from scratch. And I think that picture is pretty cool.**

**All right, enough of me talking and let's get to the story! Any questions, review, PM, or email them to me. Let's hope this goes well. Chapter 1 is gonna follow after this.**

**Disclaimer: I have _no _rights to the TV show My Babysitter's a Vampire. Happy Halloween!**

* * *

_Prologue_

_November • 1807_

_Before Black's Church_

_"Are you sure?" I asked him, squeezing his hand in comfort. I've never seen him cry. Matter of fact, you'd think he'd cry a little when his father died. He didn't. He was as still as stone, saying not a word until it was his turn to speak at the funeral. Other than that, he said nothing. Not a tear was shed for Father Black by his son._

_A hoarse cough came from him and he looked up at me with light eyes. He was so sick, and the town's doctors had tried to cater to him with everything, but nothing worked. _

_"I won't be able to take it back. The transition will be difficult." I went on._

_He nodded, holding his breath. "I want it. I want you to turn me." He stretched his neck out. Smooth curls of hair on his neck moved out the way with the wind, like nature wanted me to turn him. And nature always found ways to fiddle in my life, for better or for worse._

_I've never felt such sympathy for anyone. I've been alone for the most part of my immortal life. And I never felt pity, neither did I want to. I had to put myself first, and only myself. But our bond had grown stronger in the year I got to know him, and I couldn't bear to see him suffer. He was so close to me, almost as a brother. He looked out for me, I looked out for him, and it had been like that for a few years._

_ My sharp white fangs dropped at the edges of my mouth, and I could already hear his heartbeat. It thumped by my ears and the sound wrapped around my brain, making me even hungrier. I could taste it already. The tenderness of his blood would wrap around my sense of taste, satisfying me and bringing me the fullness I desired._

_I held his shoulder and bit into him harshly. He let go a weak moan. The blood pooled in my mouth and soon enough hi__s eyelids dropped and he fainted. His blood was all over my hands, red on my wrists and fingertips. The evidence of him on my lips, and his lifeless form at my boots._

**.v.X.^.X.v.**

_September • 2010_

_Modern-Day Whitechapel_

I recalled that day many times, but only in little, slow bits and pieces. The day I turned Jesse. But that was approximately 200 years ago, give or take a few.

And _damn _those were two _long _centuries.

While the cinema plan was being horribly delivered, I could remember faintly how this all started. Who knew turning one guy could lead to all this?

The freshmen were there with Sarah, armed with holy water guns and stakes and such. And man, did that make me pissed. I just wanted my friends back. I had everything taken away from me, my empire snatched away, and nearly my life drawn away at the blink of an eye. I hated the fact that these ignorant teenagers would assume that I had a sinister motive, but if it took 219 souls to bring my friends back, then 219 souls it would be. I could care less.

A dagger was in one of their hands. My mentor, Andrey, told me that there was a such weapon that could kill a vampire with one slash or stab. And here was that weapon, simply five feet away from me.

I ran to the back of the screen, where a few others were, holding the traitor fledgling captive. One of the boys jumped in front of Sarah, defending her. I stepped forward, but he pointed his dagger toward me, showing that he meant business.

"Stop right there," he commanded. "I mean it!"

"Or _what_?" I mocked, putting my hands on my hips. He flung the dagger at me, but I fortunately ducked. Someone screamed. I turned back and noticed that he had hit Rachel. I gasped as she fell to dust. I stood up tall, my fists clenched and my teeth barred as I glared at him. He backed up a bit. "You're dead." I growled.

Before I could wrap my hands around his throat and chomp into it, he pulled out a lighter. I stared at him in disbelief.

"Behold," he said, "the flame of invincibility." I couldn't help but giggle. So did everyone else.

"You're obviously dying now, pretty girl." I told Sarah, grinning. She looked embarrassed. Good. No one threatens to kill my brother and gets away with it. I'd have the pleasure in killing her myself by snapping her neck.

"This is Plan B? Seriously?" she asked the boy.

"You know we're not afraid of fire, right?" I asked, still amused. "You actually should've done your research." The boy smiled at me, looking at the ceiling. Then, he threw his lighter in the floor, and I got a clue.

He must've hacked into the sprinkler system. Because as soon as the lighter passed by the smoke detector, a few drops of water fell on me, and I flinched. It burned. Holy water. I was quick to desert the scene and head out the back entrance.

I patted myself off and let my wounds heal. This definitely wasn't my best day.

**.v.X.^.X.v.**

Minutes later, things passed by as a blur. I remember meeting Jesse along the street and making up a quick plan to head to the tree where everyone was buried and release them, since the eclipse would surely happen any moment. When we got our destination, Jesse and I waited in a backyard, by a tree. One of the last out of the orchard we used to pick apples from. The apples were all gone and it was a simple tree, nevertheless. I looked up at it.

I lost a little time, because by the time I could look down, the boy who was hell-bent on protecting Sarah was in the yard and my senses were raised. I peeked out from behind the tree and smiled, crossing my arms and raising my eyebrow.

"I-I thought I killed you," the boy stuttered. "You were hit with the holy water–"

"I've been around for a while, little human, I can handle a little drizzle." I said, giggling. "I'm glad to see you care."

"Funny how they name streets after what they tore down to build them. This used to be an orchard, one of our favorite spots until your idiot ancestors burnt our flock alive," Jess said, coming from behind the tree too. His eyes were icy-blue.

"Yeah, well. I'd say their only mistake was not finishing the job." the boy said. Ugh. He needed to stop with the hero act.

"You made us miss our target. So the rest of our flock may have to wait a little longer, that's fine. We still have enough Dusker souls here to resurrect a few dozen of the most powerful vampires that ever lived. And you will have the honor of being their first midnight snack."

I pointed my gaze toward the moon, which was now aligned with the sun, eclipsed and bloody-red. I could feel it. Not only were my boots on too tight, which pained me, but was the hour among us. Okay, that sounded fairly cliché. I'm not that classic, old-fashioned vampire cult leader from novels and old movies. I'm caught up enough in the 21st century... I think.

"You won't have to wait, 'cause I'm gonna reunite you two with your flock right now. Just not in this world," the boy added, retrieving another dagger from his pants and twirling it. I turned up my hand and the dagger soon flew to my grasp. I tossed it in back of me.

Jess held out his palm out to the boy, and he fell weakly. The pain illusion. Smart.

"It's funny. I knew your grandfather's _grandfather._ He was a loser too. It's such a shame I'm gonna have to kill you." Jesse said harshly.

"Jess, threatening the guy will only distract you from the plan."

"Courage!" someone else shouted. Suddenly the other boy was in view. I could feel that he was the sidekick. He didn't seem too bright. He ended up falling on his butt, near to the other boy. I bit back a giggle. "Sorry, bud."

"It was a nice attempt, though," I said apologetically. Jess shot me a look and held the Cubile Animus to the sky.

"The hour of rebirth has come! Brothers, sisters, arise!" he screamed, opening the box.

My ambitions rose. Hopefully, the arrangement could go as planned. I only stayed because I had certain connects here, and I had Jess, who'd probably get ahead of himself with the power of being "king" again. But then it happened. A scream or a growl that caught him off-guard. The box flew out of his hands and into the shorter boy's.

Sarah managed to come out from the shadows and jump on my back, trying to choke me.

A growl ripped through my teeth and I found myself slamming her against the bark of the tree. I was _tired_ of playing peacekeeper. That wasn't me. She hissed at me, trying to bite me, clawing at me and throwing a golden glare or two in, but I knew she wouldn't do it.

"Hey! I've got your friends in a box!" the boy said, gesturing to it.

I turned to him, smirking and said, "And I've got your babysitter!" I sang, holding onto her throat tighter.

"Okay, she's really _Jane's_ babysitter." the taller boy pointed out, out of ignorance.

"Who?" I asked, raising my eyebrows. I shook my head and side-eyed Jesse. He nodded. I turned back to them. "I guess I have no choice." I reached out my palm and focused, though after many centuries, some of my gifts were still weak. I could feel the box trying to make its way over to me, but the two boys held onto it sternly. I rolled my eyes and pulled further, making them collapse on the floor.

"Give me the Cubile Animus, the souls must be transferred now!" Jesse demanded.

"Sarah!" cried the boy, glancing at her for a possible word of advice on how to handle the situation.

"Just give it to him. What are we gonna do with a nest of souls anyway? eBay it?" said the taller lad again.

"It would be smart listen to your friend," I said. "Or wouldn't it be fun to see goo come out of Sarah's eyeballs?" I asked, sickly interested. I did have a thing for torture.

"We should just kill her." Jesse suggested. I made a noise of disgust. Now why would I want the ashes of a mere fledgling on my brand-new boots? "Yeah... Hand over the Cubile Animus, or we kill her."

"Jesse!" I shouted. "I _told_ you–"

"You may be older than me, Ev, but we both know I was always the one in charge," he said, smiling. "You're just the sidekick."

My eyes widened at his rebellion. _No one_ called _me_ a sidekick! I saved him. Spared him a life of illness, heartbreak, and mortality, and _this_ was his way of saying thank you? I may have made a few empty threats all along this whole mission to uncover the Cubile Animus, and raise my "brothers" and "sisters" back from the dead, but I didn't feel the need that it was necessary to kill a few newbie vampires and ragtag humans. That wasn't apart of _my _end of our plan.

I groaned angrily and shoved Sarah over to him, resembling my surrender. "Handle this on your own then." I hissed, shaking my head. "I'm sick of you. I hope they'll burn you alive."

"But Eva! We've been planning this for years!"

"You should've thought of that instead of eluding my advice!" I snapped, stomping my foot. As my anger buzzed and flowed up in me, so did my hunger. It was a sharp, stinging pain in my throat and a tremor in my stomach. Under my skin tensed up and my teeth throbbed. I could feel myself losing it by the second I stood, surrounded by human life and the moon full and high in the upper atmosphere. "Good night." I backed up and jumped, the air underneath lifting me, letting me shoot into the dark night sky.

I didn't care what happened to Jesse at the moment. I didn't want part in his demons, since I had plenty of my own. I had a past, and a harrowing one at that. And it was about time that it came back to bite me.


	2. The Dog Days Are Over

_I. The Dog Days Are Over_

_September • 2010_

_Present-Day Whitechapel _

I couldn't think about it anymore. Looking down at my outfit hung up in front of my closet, it looked terrible. A plain, long-sleeved blue shirt, white undershirt, and dull blue jeans? Um... _no._

Since we were busy planning the busted heist of the Cubile Animus, I had lacked off in my studies and neglected my homework. Glamouring could make up for that, but I still didn't want to feel dependent on my vampire abilities to get me out of work... even though I had used glamouring and illusions to get me out of sticky situations... which were more often than I realized... Okay, maybe I was _lazy_, but the point was that I was desperate.

I went to my closet again and tugged out a white crop top, leather black skirt, and red blazer. I shrugged off my towel and dressed myself, then slipped into a pair of velvet-blue heels. After attempting to put on some natural eyeshadow and lip gloss, I stood in front of the dresser mirror for a while.

The mirror was blank, of course, but if could faintly picture what I had looked like for over five centuries. My hair was– _is_ dark and long, which is most of the time kept wavy. When my eyes weren't phosphorescently lit at a light shade of blue compared to other vampires, they were supposed to be dark and almond-shaped, maybe even mistaken for doe eyes sometimes, and they were shaded by thick lashes. Looking down at my hands, my skin looked olive-colored. Judging from how my father was terribly pale, it was my mother's contribution to me, along with my eyes. I think she was from Bulgaria.

After slipping on dark sunglasses, I went out into the early dawn, sniffing the deep scent of green grass and autumn-colored maple leaves. I ran up further on the sidewalk until I found myself skidding onto Main Street.

I hadn't seen Jesse in a few days, and I presumed that Sarah and her... _friends_ had taken care of him. Oh well. If only Jesse took my advice, then he'd be here with me, soaking up this rich post-fall view of the town.

Before entering school, I looked over at a boy waiting for me by the dumpster. He was my breakfast.

Yeah, I _know_, once a vampire bites a mortal, that mortal is made into a fledgling. Well, I learned a trick about three-hundred years back. If I fed the mortal a special elixir one of my witches made me, I could paralyze the vampire transition and use the mortal as my personal feeder.

He stared at me, bewildered. I smiled and peered around cautiously, then took a small bottle from my bag. I took the dropper from inside it, dipped it in, and squeezed the drops into his open mouth. He accepted it and obediently tilted his head to the side, making my way clear for his neck. Veins pulsed under the skin and his heart was beating at a steady, low pace. It couldn't have been tastier. Plus, he was a virgin. I always told Jesse that the purest humans always tasted better.

My fangs let themselves drop and I shoved the bottle back in my jacket pocket. I soon bit into him and holding his shoulders to balance him out. The warmth filled me, teeming down my throat. After I was satisfied, I drew myself away from him and let him fall, dazed and confused on the ground. I wiped my mouth and ran back to the school entrance.

A sloppy job, I'll admit, but I couldn't help myself. I had tried to reform myself from taking too much blood away, but my bloodlust was way too powerful to comprehend. I just loved the feel, and I could tell that he loved the experience more–

"Evie!"

I groaned and turned around, recognizing the voice. I hated it when Erica called me "Evie." I swore under my breath and made my way over to her, hugging her in my arms. She returned the favor and smiled. I couldn't see her eyes under the thickly dark sunglasses she wore.

I've always liked Erica. As a human, I felt sorry for her, being pushed around by those bitchy cheerleaders and demoted by others. I always knew she'd make a kick-ass vampire. All newbie vamps get a little confidence-booster when they're turned, and even though Erica's new ego is the size of the _sun_, she's still pretty goddamn loyal. But she needs all the help she can get with this new life, and who's better to teach her than me, a 585-year-old vampire with nothing else to do with her life.

"How are you doing?" she asked.

I raked my fingers through my thick hair and nodded. "I'm fine. It's over, so I shouldn't be upset or anything. He's really gone."

"Are you still gonna tell me all the tricks?" she asked eagerly. "And show me how to fly, right?" And with her being a Dusker, it amused me how many vampire questions she acquired, but I loved answering them.

I laughed. "Of course, I promised. I'm of my word." She chirped happily and looped her arm through mine. "Is Sarah... still alive?" I questioned, getting a bit more serious.

Erica nodded, giving me a dead look. I smiled, holding my hands up.

Believe me, Sarah and I were friends... er, _acquaintances_, but I wouldn't call her my _very_ best friend. I don't have a best friend. Just really good friends.

I didn't really approve of Jess going out with her in the first place. One, she seemed fine on her own. And two, I advised him often that humans were for a few reasons only: eating, turning, killing, controlling, and flirting. Sorry, but it's true on my end. And if you're dating one, you'll end up either killing and changing them, anyway. And Jesse accomplished that with not one, but _two_ human girls, and it wasn't even second semester yet.

"I told you, she has a blood-sub, so she's making it by without human blood." said Erica. I snorted, rolling my eyes. A vampire without human blood might as well had been a newborn puppy. "What's wrong?"

"Nah, nothing," I lied, shrugging, "she's just missing out on a hell of an experience." We laughed and walked inside the building, taking off our sunglasses. I followed her to her locker. I leaned against the wall of other lockers, cross-armed as she organized herself for the morning.

"So, are you sure you're all right, staying by yourself?" I nodded, smiling. She frowned, seriously. "Your cover story is that your parents died and your brother is out of town because he's a drug dealer." I nodded again.

"And part of that is entirely true!" I protested, raising my arms up, stretching. "My father _is_ dead, and I _assume_ my mother's dead. I never knew _who_ she was, just the part that she gave birth to me." She shut her locker and tilted her head down. "I had a brother once, but he was burdened with ergotism and took his own life."

"Won't you get lonely in the house?"

I shrugged again and looked down at my charm bracelet, toying with it. I didn't really care about loneliness. "I'm fine."

"If you want to talk to me about anything, I'm here, Eva, you know that."

"I'm fine, Erica, _really_." The bell rang and I pulled the huge purse on my shoulder higher up. I could practically fit myself in there. "See you later..."

**.v.X.^.X.v.**

Now came the tricky part. Avoiding Sarah and her geeky friends. See, I had sophomore classes, since I was turned at the age of sixteen, which was also a long story that I rather not go into, so Jesse supplied as my older brother in the senior class.

I barely saw any of the three in my classes, and if I did, I sat in the back. I sat behind the taller one in my French class. The shorter one was neighboring me in English, but I could mange to avert him if necessary. But the real challenge was lunch, where everyone was scattered, and I couldn't point out where anyone was.

My friends were dead, killed by the holy water at the Dusk III premiere, and I was pissed off, because I was one of the most popular girls in school, and I was sitting alone. My guess was that Erica went off to feed.

I was sipping blood through a styrofoam cup that made others think I was drinking fruit punch, when I was bothered by a boy with the most ridiculously floppy blonde hair. He sat in front of me and propped himself up with his elbows, staring at me, as if in a dream.

"Um..." I said, licking my teeth to bypass suspicion. "May I help you?"

"Nah." he breathed, still staring at me. "But I can help you." I raised an eyebrow. "You know that missing piece in your life? That's me." I mentally slapped myself for even talking, but then it only took two more blinks to recognize this boy. And I can remember him clearly from Jesse's party.

_A Couple Nights Ago..._

_The Black Mansion_

_Clustered in between the sexually-driven teenage strangers in my house and the loud-ass bass drilling through my head, I needed to head outside for some fresh air. Or a drink. A drink sounded pretty good._

_I grabbed a beer from the cooler and popped the cap off with only my thumb, taking a sip almost automatically. I went outside by the pool and watched fools swim in there with their clothes on. The blonde boy came next to me, his face lit up in amazement._

_"Dang," he said, laughing. "I've never seen a babe handle a beer like that! Well... I've never seen a girl drink beer... ever." __The term "babe" was so overused it made me sick. I rolled my eyes and drank more. "I'm Rory, but you can call me the man of your dreams, sweetness."_

_Ah. This little human was trying to flirt with me. Touching. I pulled the beer away from my mouth. "Eva."_

_"Eva... nah, I like Sweetness better." He came closer as I finished the beer and tossed it in the trash without __giving a crap about recycling. "So, Sweetness, wanna hit the dance floor? It's my first senior bash and I don't want it going to waste."_

_My throat burned for something a little stronger than beer. "I have a better idea, cutie." His face burned. I smiled. I'll admit, he _was_ a cutie. He could make a pretty hot vampire if he took care of himself right._

_I pulled handfuls of his shirt and kissed him on his lips. I shut my eyes and let my fingers trace circles on his chest. Then, when I felt he was off-guard, I dropped my fangs and bit into him, sucking him some of his blood and letting my venom lace with it._

"Rory?" I asked, recalling his name. "I remember now." He looked confused. I snickered. "I'm the girl who gave you that 'wicked hickey.'" He grinned, probably remembering, too. "I'm Eva, remember?"

"Yehvah? That's a name?" he asked.

I rolled my eyes. I forgot the English pronunciation. "Eva. Like, Eve... then 'ah.'"

"Okay, that makes much more sense."

I laughed. "So, I haven't seen you in a while. Were you at the premiere?"

He nodded. "It was a bit crazy, but the snacks were _awesome_."

"Well, maybe we can hang out. You wanna grab a snack sometime?" I asked. Hopefully he wouldn't think it was a date. I was just trying to make conversation.

"Sure thing, Sweetness." he cooed. I giggled one more time and got up from my seat, sipping from my cup again and walking out of the cafeteria. Getting over Jesse's betrayal was gonna be easier than I thought.

I tossed the cup in the garbage and continued to walk to my locker. I started whistling, because I haven't felt so happy in a long time. But then something killed my vibe: a stake in the back. It wasn't further enough to kill me, so I could wiggle out of it and free myself, but damn my back hurt.

I turned around to see those two boys from the other night. I groaned and folded my arms across my chest. Beginner's luck.

"You know," I said weakly and off-guard, "it's really rude to sneak up on a woman behind her back."

"Is it?" the taller one asked.

"Nah, I'm lying, I just didn't have a line to say." I studied the bloody stake in the shorter boy's hands. The thought mad my back ache with stunning pain. I pointed at it. "Mmm, did Sarah put you up to this?"

"_No_," the shorter boy replied. I could hear the uneasy tone in his voice. I stared at him hard. "Yes..."

"Do you even know who I am?"

"Jesse's _hot_ sister?" the taller boy said, smiling, earning a nudge from his friend.

"Not only am I hot, but I'm the one who turned him into a vampire." I explained, smirking at the fact that he called me hot. "And I don't like it when wannabe vampire slayers come out of nowhere and stake me." I said in a deadlier tone. "Not. Nice."

"Are you evil or something?"

I gasped, holding a hand on my chest. "Jesus, no!" I exaggerated. "I wouldn't hurt a fly!"

"Don't let her get to you, B, it's one of her mind tricks." the shorter lad said, holding his friend back. "Sarah said you'd try to use them on us."

"And I'm _so_ fricken' scared of _Sarah_." I rolled my eyes. "If you want me out of your way, you stay outta my way, little human, 'kay? Now, if you'll _excuse me_, I need to get to class." I turned to walk, but whipped around and added, "And you're not too bad yourself, handsome." I pointed at the taller one, making his jaw practically hit the floor. I laughed, heading off to my locker.

Man, I'm just saying. Human boys were _too_ much.

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**Okay, thanks for the love on the prologue! I feel all nice inside :D Okay, so updates'll come every Thursday, maybe in between 2pm or 8pm, Eastern-Standard Time, here, over in Canada and the US. Any other questions, you know what to do! Once again, have a pretty safe Halloween! And don't have too much candy, or else you'll be bouncin' off the walls and have a toothache on November 1st. Smiles!**

_**Kisses! ~TwistedTelepath**_


	3. Bitchcraft

**A/N: I hope y'all enjoy this chapter, and are enjoying the story so far! Updates are every Thursday! Thanks for the love and support, and know that your questions will be resolved soon, and your follows and favourites are well-appreciated! **

**Oh, and now you're probably wondering why I changed the cover from Nina Dobrev to Lorde. Well, figuring that TODAY in fact is her birthday and she's now 17, it made more sense to pick a 17-year-old over a 20-something-year-old. Plus, she's really pretty and around the height and style I was aiming for Eva, and plus I thought of "Royals," which made me think of how much Eva thinks of herself much as a queen of her own fantasy, you'll learn more about that later, there's Lorde. Doesn't she look all pretty and vampire-y?**

**Anyway...**

**Disclaimer: I don't own MBaV. Really, I don't. I wish I did, but I don't. And I don't really own this title name... It was the name for that episode in American Horror Story: Coven. I love streaming it. Er, yeah, I own nothing except Eva, and her friend Rose.**

* * *

_II. Bitchcraft_

_S1E2: Three Cheers For Evil_

The days got less subtle after that. And I hated it.

I could feel their eyes on me as I passed them in the hall, and Sarah always had to whisper something about me that my hearing couldn't catch, so it was a pain in the butt. What, I couldn't walk around my own damn school without being talked about? Is that how the world worked now? No. That was _not _how my world worked. In my world, things worked the way _I _wanted to, and anyone who disagreed, got a snap in the neck, because I meant business. Though, I did drive me a little... I don't want to say crazy, because I was positively sure that I wasn't crazy. Many things, but not crazy.

Dropping down to get a sip of water by the fountain, my ears couldn't help but pick up this:

"_Cheerleaders are not normal! They're more evil than us, and we're vampires!_"

I rolled my eyes and snapped around, matching the voice to Sarah, who was by the lockers in the distance with my buddy Erica. And not too far off was the slut volunteer station, more commonly know as the cheerleading sign-ups.

And that _bitch_ Stephanie Marshall.

I looked at her, and she glared back. We never really got along. In this school, or at least in my mind, the cheerleading squad and the drama club were two of the most popular groups, of course with the football and hockey teams hovering above them. Cheerleaders were desirable amongst all, the guys because of how attractive they were, and the girls because of how they got all the glory around campus. They were envied. The drama club, however, was just envied since we got to talk to a range of different people, we were beautiful, and we basically got away with everything, thanks to the perks of mind compulsion.

And we were vampires, but of course they didn't know that.

Unlike Stephanie, people actually _liked_ me (or at least I thought they did) and I didn't call for attention all the time.

I sped up toward them unnoticed and eased in on their conversation by another wall of lockers. I had a thing for drama, _obviously_.

"Sarah, you know I've always wanted to be a cheerleader, and now that I'm really hot, I can be." Erica replied. "Besides..." She turned to the table. "They've been telling me to bite them for years." I giggled, giving myself away. The two faced me and I waved, making Sarah roll her eyes and mutter something. "Hey, Evie." I winced, but smiled.

"I hear talk of biting cheerleaders," I said, raising my eyebrows. "And I want in."

"I don't think that's what they had in mind." Sarah said, darting a glare towards me. I pouted innocently.

"Aww, but who's gonna miss just one, Sarah-bear?" I tilted my head, waiting for an answer.

"I will!" I turned around, closing my eyes and opening them again to those two guys again, or should I call them Shaggy and Scooby? I don't know why, but I had this little urge to tease the tall kid every time I saw him. I came up to him, smirking.

"Okay, I guess I can't withhold you of satisfying your big boy needs." I said, shrugging. He smiled at me. At least _he _seemed to like me. Erica seemed to wander off. I turned to Sarah now, wearing my signature no-good grin. "I can watch her if you like, 'ya know."

"I rather be staked in the back than trust you with my best friend." she sneered.

"Like you would know how that feels, cupcake." My back still ached and it had been a couple of days. "But seriously, I can help you."

She ignored me and turned to her friends. "If you have any ideas on how to stop her, I'm all ears."

The two guys looked at the table suggestively, and I couldn't help but laugh. The idea of Sarah, moody and bold as she is, joining the cheer squad was as funny as watching a Jackass scene over and over again. Sarah hesitantly took a look at it.

"No, no, no, no, no," she repeated like a broken record. "There has to be another way!" The guys waved invisible pom-poms. I covered my mouth now, quieting down my laughter as I watched her drag herself over.

"Eva, right?" the taller boy asked, pointing at me. I nodded, shrugging. "'Ya know, you wouldn't look too bad in a red skirt."

I snorted, rolling my eyes. "You know, all this time you've spent hitting on me, I've never learnt your name, and somehow, you know mine."

"Benny." he supplied with a smile, extending his hand towards me. I shook it, raising an eyebrow. "And that's Ethan." The other guy looked alarmed when he said his name.

"What's the matter? I don't bite... too hard." I told him in a sad and funny attempt to comfort him. "Ah, I think I _will _try out now." I let go of his hand and walked off to the table, which was now empty expect for Stephanie, who was standing by it.

I took up a blue pen off the table and picked up the clipboard. I shifted my weight to the side and clicked the pen, signing my name. Her eyes were still on me. "It's been a long time, sweetheart." I said, my focus still on the clipboard.

"Not long _enough_." she answered. I put the clipboard on the table and handed her the pen. "Since when do you do cheerleading?"

"Since when do you ask so many questions?"

She rolled her eyes and reached beneath the table, scanning me up and down. She pulled out an identical red uniform to hers and handed it to me neatly folded. "Get dressed and then meet us in the gym." I took the uniform and smiled. "I hope you're not up to any funny business."

"Can't a girl just get her sis-boom-bah on?" I inquired, shrugging. I put the uniform under my arm and walked off toward the bathroom.

**.v.X.^.X.v.**

In the bathroom, coming out from the stall, I saw Sarah still staring down at herself in disbelief. _Damn_, her boobs were _huge_. I giggled and looked down at myself. I looked hot. And this getup really complimented my curves. I clapped my hands and put my elbow on her shoulder. She turned to stare at me, looking like a little girl who just lost her puppy.

"We look fang-tabulous." I joked, flashing my fangs at her.

She rolled her eyes again and walked out without me. I put my hands on my hips and walked out too, presenting myself to the audience made up of Ethan, the one who acted like I was a venomous king cobra, and Benny, the one who couldn't get his eyes off me. I twirled around, holding up my skirt and giggled.

"Oh, cowabunga!" he said.

"Don't say anything!" Sarah barked.

"You look... _peppy_!"

"Look, somebody needs to make sure that Erica doesn't do any sampling, and I'm the only one who can squeeze into this thing." I cleared my throat. "And I have a somewhat of an alliance with Eva, but note this, I still don't trust you."

"Stop, you're breaking my heart!" I said, clutching my chest.

"I'm surprised you have one." I roll my eyes at comments like this. I looked up when I heard Stephanie call us from the gym.

"Let's see what you've got, girls!" she hassled. I waved my hands sarcastically and did a cartwheel right there on the spot, earning a fake smile from her and a few whistles from others. I could feel Stephanie push me in, but I handled my balance nicely.

This was going to be a long morning.

**.v.X.^.X.v.**

I rarely expect anything in this school. Anything supernatural isn't a surprise to me, with vampires impersonating students and a few witches and earth-priestessess dashed in and a couple ghosts wandering about, yeah okay. But I never expected a drag race at school, in the gym. I almost fell trying to get my eyes off of my two new fellow cheerleaders, Betty and Veronica. I could feel my face grow red, too, but I managed to contain myself.

Good God, and it wasn't even my birthday yet.

"Uh, Betty, Veronica, would you two care to join us?" Stephanie asked as we were running over some crappy cheers. It was either this girl was blind, retarded, or she knew they were boys in-disguise and just wanted to enjoy their torture. I know I was.

"Oh, we care." Benny answered in a squeaky, girly voice. I hid the weak smile on my face with my pom-poms as they made their way over. I could feel Benny next to me and I flashed him a smile.

"_You don't look so bad in a red skirt_," I whispered.

"Now form up, girls." Stephanie said, calling my attention. We had to circle around her. "I wanna hear you shout!" We pushed our arms in the middle of the circle, arm to arm with each other.

"We're devil girls, and we'll knock you out!" we finished, tossing the pom-poms in the back.

"Alright, now hit the showers. Some of you new recruits are _rank_." Stephanie commented, scrunching up her nose. Chick wasn't wrong. With super senses, this place was toxic to me. The other girls giggled and skippered off to the locker room. I stopped myself quizzically and raised my arm, taking a whiff. Yuck. I made my way to the locker room, but Betty, Veronica, and Sarah were blocking the doorway. I wore an evil grin and slapped both their butts, making them turn around quickly, embarrassed.

"Wow, you two really have spunk." I said off-handedly, planting a hand on my hip. I giggled at their chests. "You wanna borrow a bra sometime?"

"This isn't the time for jokes, Eva." Sarah told me with an unmoved face. "I can't believe–"

"No, listen, listen!" Ethan said, hushing her up. "You can't tell anyone. I just had a horrible vision."

"Ditto! I'm going to have to wash my eyes out with soap. Look, we can handle Erica." Oh _now _we're a _we_? "Just go practice your cheers and have a cold shower." She started to turn into the locker room. I reached into my bag and pulled out my water bottle.

"Well, if you insist." Benny said, smiling, about to walk in.

"At _home_!" She shoved them out. I didn't feel like showering in a public washroom, because you _never _know what's in there, and I don't trust these girls. Could be a band of thieves. I stalked behind the two before Ethan turned around and pointed me out.

"What are you doing?" he asked, his cheeks still a little red. Maybe he was still embarrassed by the fact that I slapped his ass. I wiggled my eyebrows. He leaned his head toward Benny, still staring directly at me. "_You think she might eat us_?" he asked in a quiet voice, probably thinking I wouldn't hear.

"I'm just heading home to take a shower..." I mused, crossing my arms and walked further up to them. I batted my eyes and stuck my lip, holding my wrist behind my back. "Don't fret, like I told you, I don't bite_ too hard_. It's more like a pleasing, stirring... _carnal _feel. _And you just won't be able to get enough..._" A bell rang in my mind, telling me that it was enough. I giggled lightly and swooped around. "I'll catch up with you later."

"_I have a bad feeling about her..._" I heard Ethan whisper, making me smile wider. "_Don't let her get to your head._"

"_Too late._" Benny replied.

**.v.X.^.X.v.**

I never really thought I'd see Rory randomly at school again, but there he was at lunch. Talking to the boys at lunch. I folded my hands on my stomach and listened in, being nosy. Focusing on their voices out of everyone's in the cafeteria, I closed my eyes and leaned back further in the darkness of my little private corner.

"_'Course. Best way to hang with all the hot cheerleading chicks._" Rory said. "_And there's this one blonde hottie McLovely. Name's Betty. _So _into me._" I laughed quietly to myself at the fact that he had a crush on Benny without knowing it directly.

"_Yeah, I doubt that, dude._" he answered.

"_What about Veronica?_" Ethan asked.

"_Meh. She's okay._" Rory said. I nearly choked at that as Ethan's smile dropped.

"_Just okay?_"

"_Her legs are kind bandy._" I heard laughter from one of them, presumably Benny. "_But Betty... I just wanna sink my fangs..._"

"_Yeah, we get it._" he cut off.

I opened my eyes to see that the boys were looking at me in the distance, Rory with a flirty smile. I waved to him. Now zoned out from their conversation, I couldn't hear what he said to the other two. Benny nodded in agreement to whatever it was, but Ethan stood there, looking like he was in excruciating pain. His eyes were uneasy on me, but I shrugged it off and put my elbows on the table, taking up my cup and sipping from it.

He was coming over to me, and when he got to my table, he sat himself down and glared me down.

"Are you watching us?" he asked me. I shook my head, setting my cup down. "Quit lying, I know you are."

"I'm afraid you don't know me, little human." I said, crossing my legs. "You're thinking of me like Jesse, but guess what. We're two different people. I'm slyer, but at the same time, I'm not that subtle."

"Just leave my friends alone."

"No, they're really _cute. _And I swear to God, I'm not gonna hurt them. Relent." I touched his hand, sending a shock between both of us. His eyes turned pearly-white, and his mouth was open in awe. I stared at him, puzzled. I knew he was a seer, but I never saw a seer have a vision before. I always imagined it being something like _That's So Raven_.

I pulled my hand away and watched his eyes fade back to brown. He shut his mouth. I titled my head.

He looked a little shaken, but then his face softened up. "I-I've got to go..." He stumbled up and ran off.

**.v.X.^.X.v.**

"I've been meaning to visit you for a while, Roza." I said into my cell phone. "Don't throw a hissy fit, I will. Soon."

My witch buddy Rose could be a pain in the neck sometimes. We've known each other since... well, it's complicated, I'll leave it at that. And we had a rough start, but after she put her foot down a couple of times, we ended up being great friends and she didn't just see me for a bloodsucking creature, I was a loyal friend that could keep a secret. And she was pretty cool, too. And I really needed to talk to someone that I actually _knew _since the last couple of days were a bitch on a Monday morning. I hated practice. I hated Stephanie. Hell, I even hate myself for signing up. Me, trying to get Benny's attention.

I couldn't help it, but in between him, Ethan, and Rory, they were just too much to _not _let go of. They were a liter of newborn puppies that I just _had _to play with. And Ethan kind of chilled down with me now. He didn't talk to me much, my guess was he was still stun from a few days back with that vision. But hey! That's progress, right? I'll take what I can get.

"_I get that, but it's been years! To you, that's nothing, but to me... well, the numbers don't lie._" Rose replied over the phone.

"You're only fifteen, calm down. You're obsessed with your age." She made a mocking laugh. "All right, I gotta go. There's this cheerleading thing at this... _girl_ named Veronica's house."

"_Since when are _you_ a cheerleader?_"

"Um, since I have a shitload of time on my hands now, yeah. I'll see you soon, babes."

"_Uh-huh. You better._"

I hung up the phone and zipped up my skirt from the back and jogged up the steps of Ethan's front door. Sarah opened the door once I knocked. I was shocked for two reasons. The fact that _Sarah_ actually let me in and the fact that she didn't have that weird, mean look on her face when she saw me. The other cheerleaders, who probably had way too many Froot Loops, were gathered in the living room, all wearing smiles when they saw me and giggling welcomes. The last time I saw them, they were plotting to fill my socks with worms and giving me dirty looks.

"Uh..." I said, speechless. "What the hell is going on here?"

"What does it look like, Evie, we're having a sleepover!" Sarah told me jubilantly. I blinked twice when I heard "Evie." No way was this happening. It was all a dream, no doubt.

"I'm scared..." I murmured to myself.

**.v.X.^.X.v.**

Besides the fact that I just got abused in a pillow fight, I was glad I went to the sleepover. I found out new information. Stephanie was a witch. Every other girl was lured into her spell. And I had no protection, so I decided to _actually _sleepover. Hey, the boys were no Secret Service, but at least I wouldn't be alone...

_Yeah_, I _lied_, I hated being alone.

So, all the girls dipped when it was close to eleven and went to Stephanie's, probably because she had more things planned to brainwash them, and I was abandoned and left on a couch in Ethan's living room, my arms wrapped around me, staring up at the ceiling in the dark. I would probably head home in the morning. I didn't pack anything.

I nuzzled my face into a pillow and held it close to my chest once I heard footsteps, which made me spring into action by swooshing on top of the table. I sniffed out the sudden contender, then rushed across the room when I saw a makeup of darkness, too dark of a shade to blend in with all the other blackness in the room. I held them by the cloth of the intruder's shirt and held them high. I hissed, opening my mouth. The lights turned on, blinding me, but then I could make out Benny. I sighed and let him go.

"This isn't the bathroom..." he said to himself.

"Don't scare me like that!" I said in a shrill voice, setting myself down in relief. I laid on the couch again, trying to regain comfort.

"You're a vampire, why would you be scared of me?" I remained quiet and turned my back on him. "You know, you can sleep upstairs."

"I like it better down here. You want a burglar to break in, do you?"

"Ha." He sat by my legs. I stared at him strangely. What did he want from me?

"Hey, why'd your friend have a change of heart all of a sudden? He hated me."

"He didn't tell you?" I shook my head. "In that vision he had a few days ago, he saw you. Probably like, what, a million years ago?" I rolled my eyes. "And you were crying while you were hugging someone or something, and I guess they were dead and you cared about them," He shrugged, "I kind if dozed off, so I don't know what else happened... I guess he felt sympathy towards you." I laughed weakly, but then the memory of my transition crashed into my mind.

I clarified, "It was five-hundred and sixty-nine years ago, thank-you-very-much. I'm not a dinosaur."

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked me.

I stopped myself, and stood up. "You can't break me down that easy." I said defiantly. "I'm fine. Please, just go to sleep." I tried not to snap at him, but my tone wasn't exactly the gentle-kind. He hesitated and got up, making his way to take off the lights and head upstairs.

"I had to pee, anyway." he said.

**.v.X.^.X.v.**

The next morning, I was in the back of the school again, fangs sinked into the unnamed boy's neck, cradling his head, digging deeper and deeper into his flesh. I was so angry, and I didn't know why. I didn't want these people to get into my head. They had to be planning something. They didn't trust me. There had to be something up their sleeves. And I knew better than to get involved, but I did anyway. I had to put myself first. In a dangerous and hungry world like my own, it had a survival of the fittest rule, and I couldn't let anyone tamper with my mind. Not right now.

I was so caught up in thought that by the time I was back in my real world, the boy in my arms was stunned lifeless and dropped on the floor, and a bloody and chunky mess was on his neck. I saw the glow of my eyes in the metal of the dumpster, but then it faded to nothing. I signed and dragged his body in the back of it. The third feeder in four weeks. Gone.

I wiped the blood off my mouth and darted away, inside. I straightened my jacket and came up to my locker, struggling with the lock's dial, and I ended up ripping it right off. I stared at it and sighed, then threw it down. I swung open the door and slipped my jacket off of me, then hung it up.

"Aren't you excited?"

I turned around to Stephanie, whose arms were crossed and eyes locked on me. I nodded, shutting my locker.

"Yup. Jolly as a jolly rancher." I spoke in a bored monotone. "What about you, captain?"

"I just need something." Her eyes glowed this pink color and I backed up, looking around the hallway, then flashing my own eyes on her. She looked confused for a minute, then she came in stronger. "Come on, Eva, join me."

"That sounds _really _cliché." I said. I pushed her down and ran off. I found myself by the gym entrance just in time. The cheer squad proceeded into the gym, cheering loud and proud, waving pom-poms. I stood back with one girl and we did a cartwheel followed by a backflip, which was as planned. I didn't do it for spite this time. We got in our positions and started.

"The moment has come, this is it. Our finest hour, no stopping us now. You can't resist our power!" And wow, this bullshit barely rhymed. "We're forces of nature, that's what makes us stars! We may look like girls, but that's not all we are!" We got into that star-pentagram thing, and the others started to speak cryptically in Latin. I had no clue they were saying, so I was mouthing it.

"Give up now, 'cause you're gonna be beat. We are out for power and in for defeat!"

Okay, so I was a tad confused. The squad was doing this Latin incantation, whilst the boys were doing this other one which sounded like it was the same one backwards, and I was left out of the know, waving my pom-poms like an idiot. Soon enough, after Stephanie threatened the guys, her eyes were glowing that creepy, radiant pink like before and somehow her chanting seemed louder. The doors shut when she looked at them and different colors traced along on the floor to make a pentagram. She began _floating._ Kids in the crowd hunched over and translucent forms of spirits rose from their unconscious bodies. My guess was those were their souls. They purled over to the source of power (in this case, that was us) and formed around the pentagram we were in.

"This is some messed-up spirit mumbo jumbo." I said to myself, looking at the swirls of light.

"Ethan, I don't think it's working." Benny said.

"Was it the doors shutting or the spirits that gave it away?"

"Step out of the pentagram!" Ethan ordered. I shuffled in my place, trying to get out, but I couldn't. My shoes were practically glued to the gym floor. My feet couldn't move either. But I could feel a little weakness. If I could get her off-guard, maybe I could break free.

"I can't, I'm stuck!" shouted Benny.

"Push grandma's pom-poms closer to Sarah!" This command confused me more than ever, but it was probably because I left early this morning. Apparently, somebody's grandmother gave them magical pom-poms or something. I didn't really know. I watched the two struggle as the chanting developed more, stretching towards Sarah and touching her with the pom-poms in their hands. "Sarah! Sarah!"

She looked around, confusedly. "What happened? What's going on?"

"Stephanie's a witch! She's sucking the souls out of the whole student body!"

"Get back in formation!" exclaimed Stephanie. "The cheer must be completed!" And there was my loophole. She was off-balance with her power now, and I could find enough strength. I looked at Sarah suggestively. She may not have been as strong as me, surviving on rat blood and substitutes, but she was my best shot because Erica was too far away. She nodded knowingly.

"We got a new cheer for you!" I said, wrapping my hand firmly around Benny's skinny arm. Sarah latched onto Ethan.

"Give me an ow!" she finished. We pulled the boys and ourselves out of the formation.

Stephanie yelped out in pain and fell to the ground, and all the other cheerleaders fell like dominoes. I breathed with relief since _that _crazy brouhaha was over as the others cheered. The lights flooded back into the room and the students woke up, not really questioning what happened, just exiting the gym without a word. Idiots.

I went over to a conscious Erica and wrapped my arms around her neck, smiling. "Thank you, I was so alone!" I cried, fake-crying. She rolled her eyes and hugged me. We looked down at the still unaware cheerleaders and shared the same hungry look.

"Sweet! It's like an all-you-can-eat buffet!" she said excitedly. The others turned to give us that _are you serious? _look. "What? It's not like anyone's gonna miss her, she's a total–"

"She's old!" someone shouted out. I looked now at two well-aware cheerleaders and an old, wrinkle bag, probably 67-year-old Stephanie Marshall, and _boy_, did I lose it laughing. It wasn't a normal laugh, it kind of had a ring to it. Like the tone _I'm way older than you, but I look way better_ if that was even possible. The two blondes scattered, shouting, "Ew!"

Now, some old lady showed up out of nowhere, who I deem is the grandma Ethan was talking about, and Stephanie had lost it. "You! You ruined everything!"

"Poor Stephanie," the old woman deplored, "I remember how mean folks were to you back then." She turned to walk off, but Stephanie growled, a knife materializing in her hand. She aimed it for the lady, but she swiped around and shot an energy ball at her, neutralizing her, making her collapse flat on herself. "What I forgot was just how much you deserved it."

"Three cheers for Grandma!" Sarah beamed.

I was enviably lost, so I just shrugged, threw my pom-poms on the floor and started to make my way to the locker room to hand in my skirt, but a few moments later, a hand was planted on my shoulder. I turned around to look at Sarah. I narrowed my eyes in confusion, since the spell was gone and she could be free to curse me out if she wanted to.

"Look... I still don't trust you, but, you showed a lot of courage today, and you helped me save my friends. You could've left automatically, but you chose to stay and help them. Maybe... maybe you're _not _the villain I thought you were." Her big brown eyes were sympathetic and I could see it in her face, a remorseful expression.

I bit back my snarky comeback and just said, "I _am _the villain you think I am."

"But you do have a heart, admit it."

"No." She smiled. The _only _time I've seen her smile at me. "I-I only helped you 'cause... 'cause I didn't want to live in a town where someone else was in charge, that's all. That's my job, and my job only." She smirked now and stared at me harder.

"Whatever you say." I loosened her grip on me and left the gym. I'm still not giving in, I hope she knows that.

* * *

_**Kisses! ~TwistedTelepath**_


	4. A Person of Interest

**A/N: I know, early update, but I'm heading on a road-trip all the way to Upstate New York to visit some relatives, and their Internet service is shit, so... Thanks much to my lovelies for reviewing, please know that you have a special place in my heart always, whether you keep quiet or not! (And I mean it) Ooh, one question, though. Who's watching The Vampire Diaries tomorrow?! Of course I am, but you know only for the sexy and talented men on that show. x) Ian...**

**So, next week, we're going a little deeper into Eva's past... like... 1400's deep. Like, when she was _actually _16 and still a living, breathing human deep. Okay, I think I've made my point. You'll be introduced to Alek, Eva's brother, Nikolai, Eva's father, and Andrey, Eva's turner and mentor. So~ stay tuned if you wanna see a little action, and if you like what you read and want more, don't worry, I have more human Eva moments planned later on. :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own MBaV, I just play with the characters and make them say and do things they probably wouldn't without a PG-14 or so warning.**

* * *

_III. A Person of Interest_

_S1E3: Blood Drive_

I fastened the white lab coat I put on just a while ago and stood up from kneeling. I was almost flying out of my shoes at this. There was blood _everywhere_. Blood bags. Blood coming out of donors. And even the donors counted as blood. My stomach growled at the delicious scent and I grinned, rubbing my hands in that cartoonish bad guy way.

I signed up as a student-volunteer nurse to get close to the good stuff. Sometimes I just wanted a tease, sometimes I wanted a bite, it depended on my mood. I carried a plastic container of the stuff towards a table and dusted my hands, keeping my hungry stare on it. That's my lunch.

"Eva, could you take that tray and hand out cookies to the donors in line?" I turned around and nodded at Annie, one of my bosses. I felt like I knew the older one, Lila, from somewhere. I just couldn't last long enough without thinking about that luxurious smell and how my fangs ached to drive themselves inside a little bag of seventh heaven.

I took the tray of oatmeal cookies and walked by the line of boys slowly. I held the tray out by my side as some boys took a helping. I winked when I met up with Ethan and Benny.

"Cookies?" I offered, tipping the half-empty tray. "C'mon, I didn't poison them."

"Eva? What are you doing as a student nurse?" Ethan asked me curiously.

"I can't help give to the poor people dying of blood-loss?" I asked, batting my eyes. "Aww, Ethie, don't you know me by now?"

"Actually, I _vaguely_ know you, and I _vaguely_ trust you, so no, I _don't_ want any cookies." I pouted and looked at the boy behind them. I looked at him deeply. "Could you hold these for me?" His eyes glowed blue and he nodded, flitting off with them. I shrugged. Close enough.

"So, what are we up to on this fine day?"

"You've barely talked to us since the cheerleading thing."

"See, but I've had a change of heart now." True. I wasn't much of a people person, but still, I was in too much of a good mood to care.

He looked at me as if he were reading my mind or something, but I rolled my eyes and turned to Benny. "You believe me, right, Ben?" He shrugged, his eyes far off. I raised my eyebrow and turned to look in the direction. His stare was locked on Annie, no doubt, and this... this _bothered_ me. In this time that I barely known Benny, his short little attention span was focused on me. I shrugged again and crossed my arms.

"What are you really up to, Eva?"

"Nothing. And if I were up to something, you wouldn't know now would you?" I asked. I spun around and strutted off.

**.v.X.^.X.v.**

Like I've said countless times before... I've been around for a while. I know most of the tricks in the book, and I know how to use them. And I can smell a plan brewing a mile away. Now, when my vampy friends are acting suspiciously, I know something's up. Because I was left in the dark with this whole thing as usual. And I'm the one confusing people, not the other way around.

I put my hands in my pockets and headed off to go grab breakfast, since I got so caught up in the excited this morning to actual look for some. I twirled a brown lock of hair that was hanging loose of the bun my hair was in when I bumped into Lila. She dropped a case of blood bags on the floor and I quickly bent down to retrieve them, apologizing.

And that's when it hit me.

_May • 1924_

_Chicago, Illinois_

_The perfect drizzle begun to pitter-patter on the sidewalks. The wind wasn't too gusty, but it ran through my hair, which was dolled up with pins. A lacy black band went around my head, with two little red and white feathers by my ear. I slipped my shall on my shoulders as I jogged down the street in my white heels. Faint yellow lights casted a glow in the night, and the sounds I could detect were car honks and drunken men travelling in groups, smoking cigars and laughing._

_I had too much of a good time tonight. I was surprised I wasn't even that drunk. My eyesight was blurry __through the darkness of the night, probably because I had been laughing so hard that I was crying up until now. I twisted the string of pearls around my neck around my wrist and went to go find a cab. I stopped when I heard something in the distance. _

_A faint scream, paired with the scent of blood. I licked my cherry-red lips and sped towards the sound._

_In an alley, I found a woman, maybe in her late-twenties, on the ground, blood sprouting from her chest. Her skin was pale from blood-loss, making her look like a ghost, but a beautiful one. Her blonde hair was loosening from the bun it was in, and her light eyes were wide with fright, maybe even surprise. A knife was jabbed in her deep. I knelt down and pulled it out, tossing it in the back of me. She was sobbing weakly and her eyes were bloodshot and watery. Her voice was weary and raised, sounds of whimpering coming out._

_"Wh-who are you?" she asked._

_"Your guardian angel." I told her, taking up her wrist in my possession. I took it up to my mouth and bit into to, making her scream more at first, but later become quiet, like she was enjoying it. I ejected myself from her. "What's your name, sweetheart?"_

_"Lila. Lila Payne." she said breathlessly._

_"Well, Lila. Your life's about to get a million times better." I feasted on her once more until I heard her heartbeat faintly cease._

"Lila Payne..." I whispered, smiling. "I was wondering when I'd see you again."

After I had turned her, I found out what happened to her. Drunk and angry husband, major fight, obviously ended badly. Jesse and I went about our own private business off and on, so he wasn't around. I stayed with Lila for a couple decades, teaching her the ropes and everything I could, then I had to go, for more unfinished business. Or... _maybe _I left her on the spot, but I had my reason. But seeing her for the first time in almost a century was unreal.

"Eva, I knew it was you," she said, "but I was afraid you wouldn't remember me." I rolled my eyes. "How are you?"

"I'm fine. I've actually been up to nothing, and it's boring. I'm boring. What about you?"

She gestured to the case of blood. My mouth curled into an O and I nodded slowly. "I've been able to keep this up for a couple decades, actually, and I'm proud. But I won't be in town long, so we won't have time to catch up." She frowned, but then perked up. "Hey, maybe we could talk over dinner sometime?" I nodded, laughing. "Okay. I've got to take this to the truck. I'll see you soon."

"Take care." I said, holding a hand up. I watched her walk away and I then went out into the hall to get something to nibble on.

I opened it and took the stolen blood bag from out of my lab coat pocket and pushed the blood in it with my fingers into the coffee mug that I usually used to get coffee from the student lounge. I disposed of the bag in the garbage quickly, bumped my locker with my hip, and took a sip, when I was approached by Ethan.

"Oh my God, what now?" I asked, sipping some more.

"I'm giving you the chance to be honest with me, Ev." I looked at him questionably when he called me "Ev." Nobody had a nickname for me except Erica... well, there was "Sweetness" which was what Rory called me, but I'm pretty sure that didn't count. "Spill your plan, and you'll be less sorry than you will be later on."

Was that supposed to be a threat? "You _really _need to calm yourself down."

There wasn't even a main incentive in stealing the blood now, even though I did already. But there wasn't. Stealing anything that belonged another vampire was a crime, according to the dumb-ass Vampire Council, which I hated. They were always making up stupid rules. Especially when a little girl like Anastasia was in charge. Next thing you know, we're all gathering for tea parties and play-dates.

"What's that in your mug?" Ethan questioned.

I looked down at the deep, thick, crimson liquid. "Blood, duh. Relax, I swear I only took _one _blood bag. I'd be an idiot to drive off with the truck out back."

He froze in thought and then went off, leaving everything discreet and suspicious between us. That was weird. After finishing up my mug, taking a few moments in between to savor the taste, I licked my top lip, buried it safely back in my locker, then ran to follow his scent and to see what _he _was up to.

**.v.X.^.X.v.**

I crept behind the boys, eavesdropping sneaky-like on their conversation. They were looking over at Erica and Rory, who were discussing something that I thought that had to do with Ethan's wild accusations toward me. And it looked like Erica was doing a good job, because this guy was all over her, doing her laundry and stuff. I caught that they were planning to do something with the blood for the blood drive. And out of all this, why did I feel like I was a bad influence?

When the two departed and the boys were still lingering around in the hall, I decided to scare them by jumping down from my floating position and hissing. It definitely scared the crap out of them. I laughed.

"Eva, that was _not _funny!" Benny whimpered.

"Actually, it _kind of was_." I gloated, bouncing up. "Now do you see that I'm innocent?" I propped my hands on my hips and raised my chin, waiting for Ethan's response. He sighed and nodded, and a smile played on my lips.

"Anyways, the clinic's closing. I think our work here is done. _All_ of us." Ethan gazed over at me and I sighed, nodding in compromise. I was a little disappointed. AB positive was my favorite, and it was _so _hard to come by nowadays.

"You wanna come over and play Robo-Zombie?" inquired Benny. "I used a cheat code to unlock a new brain grenade!"

I'd _never _understand what it was with teenage boys and online-gaming. Shooting things and watching blood explode out of an opponent. That was what the battlefield was for when I was little.

"_Eh..._"

"Oh, c'mon, we can still monitor his GPS signal from there!"

"Yeah, you two go blast some heads, blow off steam, I can take care of everything here." I said, placing a fake smile on my face. Now, I had a feeling that those two were up to no good. And I was a one-woman team. I thought best when I was alone.

I'm surprised that suppressed all Ethan's questions, and he left to talk to Sarah a few seconds after. I turned and dismissed myself from the hall, going back to the donation room, handing in my lab coat and swiping a cookie. I took a deep breath when I saw Rory wandering alone in the hall, maybe even confused about where he was going. He sure looked like the type of person who'd get so easily confused.

I greeted him warmly with a smile. "Hey, buddy." He nodded. "Whatcha up to?"

His blue eyes widened as he stuttered, shaking his head. "I can't tell you." I frowned, tilting my head. I tried to form my expression into a wounded one, like I felt betrayed by his secrecy. "What's wrong?" He sounded like he bought it.

"You don't trust me." I said, hugging myself. "I thought we were friends."

"We are!"

I perked up and touched his arm ever so gently and ran my fingers up to his neck. "Tell me then, please? I swear, I won't tell a soul." His lips parted, but no words came out. I raised an eyebrow critically and came closer to him, looking at him. "_Please_?"

He sighed and nodded. "Okay. Don't tell anybody, though. Erica'll kill me."

"_Erica_? What?"

"We're gonna sneak into the blood truck out back and take some." My eyes grew wide. Oh _shit._ "If you wanna join us, I'm sure she wouldn't mind." I stuttered in surprise, but shook my head sternly. No way was I going to testify against the Council. I made that mistake _once, _and I didn't plan on doing it again. It was way too foolish and risky.

"That's okay."

_Tell him,_ my mind told me. _Or his blood _and_ hers will be on _your_ hands. It's a faultless, rookie mistake. Correct them!_

When I tried to say something, Rory cut me off, eager with excitement. "Well, I've got to get going. I'll save you some, Sweetness."

I grabbed his hand before he could take off. "Be careful, okay?" He nodded, disconcerted, and I pecked a kiss on his cheek, making his heart flutter. His cheeks burned rosy as I backed up bashfully, and left quickly. I knew what I had to do now, my pride and ego aside.

**.v.X.^.X.v.**

"Hey!" I screamed, knocking on the glass of the window of Benny's bedroom.

I was getting awfully tired just floating there. He was so into his silly computer game that he could barely hear me. I swore to myself and pulled out my phone, sending him a quick text. Inside, he turned to his phone, picked it up, and looked my way. He got up and opened the window, letting me in. I tripped over the windowsill and crash-landed on the floor. I recovered fast and stood up, pulling down my jacket.

"About time! Do you know how long I've been out there?"

"I was busy, Eva." he said, rolling his eyes.

"Yeah, I can _clearly _see that." I gestured over to the paused game. "Look. I got Rory to fess up what he and Erica were up to. They're going rob the donation truck."

"I don't believe you..." He looked skeptical. I face-palmed just as his phone made a beep noise. He reached for it and checked it out, then looked up at me, pausing in thought. "Let's see what Mr. Security Camera has to say." I snorted when he went to his computer and started to type. A view of the back of the school pulled up. I didn't even have to say _I told you so _because it was so obvious.

"Uh-huh." I pointed out, crossing my arms.

"I guess we have to go now..."

"I'll be outside." I directed my thumb at the window. I walked toward the window, climbed over the windowsill and jumped down.

**.v.X.^.X.v.**

Too late. Even at vampire speed, we were too late. The truck just pulled off, and I could only imagine what Lila and Annie were capable of, since I thought Lila everything I knew. But she was always a cautious one. She'd probably call an advisor from the Vampire Council, and have them handed in for crime. And God knows what _they'd _do to them...

I heard footsteps behind me. I turned, fangs out, glowering at the stranger. No threat there, only Ethan and Sarah.

"What are you doing with Eva?" Sarah asked, snappily. I had _no _patience to get into a quarrel with Sarah right now. I simply rolled my eyes and stood there silently, biting my tongue.

"Ethan, you hung up on me!" Benny accused, stalking up to him.

"Later! Right now, we have vampire nurses to deal with." he snapped.

"I know, Eva told me."

"Ha!" I jumped in, pointing at Sarah. "It took me a while to put the pieces together. The suspicious behavior. The sneaking around. But I finally got it. Erica and Rory were planning on hitting up the blood truck and taking everything, but if I'm correct, they failed to do so, resulting in getting _stuck inside_. If I know Lila, she's crafty. We have to find out where she's taking them, before she hands them in to the Council." She stood like I had slapped her in the face.

"Then we gotta grab our gear and go after them, and fast." Ethan said. The three ran off.

"Hey, no thank you?" I shouted. I hmph'ed and followed.

This teamwork thing was annoying.

**.v.X.^.X.v.**

"So, you turned Lila in the nineteen-twenties?" Sarah asked, going into the fridge. I nodded.

The boys had went upstairs to research the donation program whilst I stood at the doorway, still not invited in. Running my fingers on the invisible border between me and the Morgan house, I got mildly shocked. I watched Sarah on the other side, though, draining a steak of blood from the freezer. It didn't make much sense to me, but whatever.

"She was really obedient. I guess when I took her to the Council to be initiated, they really got through to her. She'd never hold anyone hostage if there weren't any laws. They'd be dead." She turned, alarmed. I shrugged. "What? It's true. At least we're getting time to perform a rescue. Advisors are slow."

"Why are you helping?"

"I created Lila, she's my responsibility. Just like how I have to sweep the town clean of Jesse's mess."

She looked at me knowingly. "That's not your real reason."

"_Try_ _me_." I hissed.

I wasn't going to let her get into my head and mix me up. I was already regretting telling her about Lila. I should've let her take care of them. It was not of my business. But, I couldn't stand to see newborn vampires like Erica and Rory live such a short life. I should know, I had a similar experience. I didn't want to feel anything towards this, but some part of me with tugging to the desire to assist. Playing with fire was bad enough, and I knew I was going to get burned sooner or later.

And lucky for me, the boys came down with alternative weapons in case things got serious.

**.v.X.^.X.v.**

The nurses' truck had been tracked to an old warehouse. I carefully maneuvered myself around the boxes and into the clearing where Lila stood with Annie in the back of the truck. I breathed in and let myself hide in the back.

"It's not like these two noobs would put up much of a fight anyways," Annie said.

"Maybe they won't," Sarah said, making the pair look our way.

"But we will." added Ethan.

Annie looked amused. "You?"

"Yeah. Us." I said, coming into view. Annie vanished when she saw me. Lila eyed me angrily, hissing at me sharply. I hissed back, but all I could remember was my head thumping on the concrete, the world fusing into black.

**.v.X.^.X.v.**

_November • 1971_

_New York, New York_

_My chin dripped of dark blood as my hands were wrapped on the back of the young man's neck, tilting him over on my lap. My teeth were in deep, practically chewing his flesh as I indulged in him. He tried to hit on me, but I had a bad day, and my bad days never ended well. He was the poor pawn in all of it. _

_I looked up from him and turned his head to the clean side of his neck, offering him to an out of tune Lila, who stood silently on the other side of the alley. She shook her head, denying him. I made a noise that sounded like a groan crossed with a sigh and threw him down from my lap and got up, going to her._

_"What's wrong with you?" I queried. She almost never passed off a good snack when there was one._

_"I-I don't want to keep doing this, Eva." she answered, turning away from her. "I want to quit hiding in the shadows."_

_I furrowed my eyebrows, putting my hand on my hip. "What's that supposed to mean? We go to a party almost every single night. You're living your life! Don't you _see _the way men look at you once you pass by? They desire you; they want you."_

_"That's just it!" Her voice nearly threw me off._ Nearly. "I'm_ sick of it... I... I think we should..." I stood patiently for what she was going to say next. She gathered up a deep breath and glared heatedly at me. "I want to start over. Make a new living for myself. I want to travel alone."_

_I froze, but swallowed. Anger swirled inside me, burning in my chest. But instead of cursing her, I nodded, eyes narrowed. "Fine. If that's how you want to treat me, go ahead and do so. _I should've let you die._" __I spat out the last words harshly. _She gasped and glared hard at me, a frown crossing her expression. I took a tissue from my bag and wiped my face, then sped away into the bustling streets, as if it never happened. And the cold air didn't seem so cold anymore.

**.v.X.^.X.v.**

Blinking and back in reality, I raised my head to see that I was pinned to the ground. I rose, now feeling pain in my head as some of my blood was on the floor. I growled and jumped up, collecting what had happened once I blacked out. Lila stood with Annie by the truck, a bag of blood at hand. A wonderous scent pooled the air, making me feel better. A fight, possibly, and dammit I had missed it. The pair of blonde nurses had the back of the truck opened and I nearly puked when Erica was kissing Rory.

I fake-gasped and cried, "Rory, you're cheating on me!"

This alerted Erica, who quickly turned away to face her audience. "That isn't what it looks like! He wouldn't shut up! Even kissing him seemed less annoying." They got out of the truck and I whistled, amused. Lila groaned.

"I'm surrounded by vampire noobs!"

I stepped up to her, cross-armed. "You have the _nerve _to call _me _a noob." I felt vampire features cross my face, and she definitely got my message. We _definitely_ weren't hanging out and recalling old memories, anytime soon.

She and Annie closed up the backdoors. "Let's get out of here." she said, calling Lila to get into the truck with her. They fled.

"Do you guys need a ride home?" offered Sarah.

"No, we're good. It's nice out, and I think we could use the flight practice." Erica refused, luring Rory to follow her. He smiled a quirky smile and headed off to follow with a thumbs-up. And a few bits later, you could hear Erica's hand pass across his face and him cry, "Ow!"_  
_

**.v.X.^.X.v.**_  
_

Laying on the long couch in the living room and averted my eyes from the rerun of _True Blood_ and focused on the ceiling. I may have been a vampire, but I enjoyed fake ones a lot—just not _Dusk. _Anything but Dusk. I don't sparkle._  
_

I just had to curse myself. I've been slipping. I couldn't be slipping, I was too strong for that. And if Jesse were here, I could hear his voice recommending me in the background. He'd say something like, "Look at you, you've let a couple of humans get to you," and I would've hissed at him, immaturely. I couldn't afford to repress back into feelings of sympathy, not after all the things I've done. Not after all the things people had done to me.

I needed to control myself before it was too late.

* * *

_**Kisses! ~TwistedTelepath**_


	5. Playtime's Over

**A/N: "UGH! NOW THERE'S A COVER OF ZOEY DEUTCH, IS THIS CHICK INDECISIVE?!" Yeah, I swear to God, this is my last change in the cover, all because I feel more confident in Zoey than the others. I mean, tell me she's not beautiful! *She's gorgeous* Soo~, here I am, at my regular update time. How was my trip to New York? Awesome. I can't wait to go back for Chanukah next week! Lost my little dreidel, though. :(**

**Okay, so you guys have been waiting for this chapter, so I'm going hurry up and get to the point.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own MBaV.**

* * *

_IV. Playtime's Over_

_S1E4: Guys And Dolls_

_December • 1426_

_Somewhere in Middle-Aged Europe_

_The snow-covered the ground a sleek, thin layer of white and ice. Hoofprints were pressed in them, those of horses that possibly just wandered the countryside. I sat firmly on the comfortable, soft sheet laid on the hard ground, tears flooded down my cheeks, my hand intertwined with my departed brother, Alek's. They were rough and cold. _

_I could not dare to bid him farewell, because I loved him dearly. His wet, scruffy hair was matted and his pale eyes were aimed at me. His face was skinner as the time passed. It may have been cold, but somehow, I was foolish enough to think that I could find warmth. I could catch influenza could here. I was shivering and I could see my breath come out in puffs of smoke, but part of me did not care. That part wanted the illness and wanted to join Alek, no matter __where he was going, heaven or hell. I just wanted my brother back!_

_I spotted Alek's bloody knife in the snow near a tree. I gaped and pried Alek's utterly cold fingers off my hand. I picked up my dirty, ripped skirt and ran for the knife. I had to hurry. I didn't want Papa to see me end my own life. I dropped to my knees and picked up the knife, but looking at it, I didn't know what else to do. I mean, I wanted to be with Alek, but... was it worth it?_

_I __pressed the blade against my hardened skin, and flinched once a fresh cut was exposed to the freezing air. My blood dripped in drops from the bruise and onto the ground, making the patch of perfect white snow crimson. I made another cut on my wrist, and this one hurt worse, but it felt good in a way. I took in a breath and reversed the knife so it would face me. I was about to strike myself in the heart until I heart shuffling.  
_

_A horse neighed in the far beyond. I turned around to see my father, the elderly man he was with an untamed gray and white beard and hair falling in curls down his shoulders. Mangles of bruises were on his face, along with tiresome wrinkles. A hooded man was on his black horse. My father whispered to the man and gestured at me. The man nodded and halted the horse. I pulled myself together, trying to recover from crying for the sake of this guest. I gathered up my tattered skirt and stood up, then tossed my hair back from my shoulders to my back._

_"Yeva." Papa breathed. "I know that it has been difficult, with the upheaval in living, and I just want you to know that I am awfully sorry for that, my dear." He was now in front of me and he held the sides of my face. Even so he was sporting gloves, I could still feel the coldness of his hands. A hoarse cough came from his voice and then he looked up at me once more. He whispered something in another language that I couldn't understand, but then I could comprehend this, "I want the best for you."_

_"Papa, what are you saying?" I questioned in my cracked voice, gripping tightly to his wrists. He looked disapproving at my cut wrists, but he ignored them to focus on the topic he was on._

_"I found someone," He coughed again, "who can save you." He motioned the man over. His skin pale, his teeth pointed unnaturally, and his aspects unwelcoming though he was handsome matched with pale blonde hair and dark eyes. I could already tell he was a bad man. "Andrey can help you. He can change you for better." _

_I squeaked, shaking my head vastly, tears swelling up in my eyes again. I was raised to fear the immortal ones—vampires. I only knew of a few ways to become one of these evil creatures: being born the seventh child of the same sex in a family, having red hair, leading a life of sin, dying without wedlock... and I always forgot others. Many of these vampires lurked around our old village, which was why we fled, our destination England. We had been traveling for what felt like months, begging for places to stay and food to eat, but of course the people weren't always to generous. But now Papa wanted me to exchange my mortal life for immortality! I would not bear children. I would not feel emotion. I would not eat. Everything inside me would be transformed into a craving for human blood._

_"Moya lubov, you must! He can make you eternal. You will live without sickness, without pain–"  
_

_"I will live without _you_, Papa!" I cried furiously, cutting him off. I tried to think of what to say next, for I was not very good in English. Thinking of the words in Russian, I quickly tried to replace them in the next language. "I cannot leave you! Who should take care of you? You are ill! We have already lost Alek!"_

_"There is no life for me anymore. Alek's departure has wounded me, but there is no life for _you_." He slowly placed a kiss on my cheek. "I love you. Take care of yourself, Yeva." _

_Before I could put up a fight, I was handed over to the man, tipped over, and his sharp, pointed canine teeth were sucking out of me from my neck. The air closed in and my breathing grew unstable. The lumps in my throat were struggled screams, bursting to come out, yet paralyzed by the fear, though there was a hint of excitement in the bite, like it was trying to seduce me. Once I felt dry inside, and my skin began to burn, my sight turned white.__  
_

**.v.X.^.X.v.**

_September • 2010_

_Present-Day Whitechapel_

I didn't want to remember what grave pain I felt on the day I died. It was an intense, burning affliction in my body. My heart was struggling to beat, battling to push the venom from it and my veins, my skin constricting itself and my mouth running dry, either from bloodlust, or it was just too stunned to react. But what I could really focus on besides the pain was the feel. It sort of had a sensual feel if you didn't focus mainly on the hurting. It felt good, but it was horrible, if that was even a thing to say.

I scowled at myself and picked up the short glass on the counter, taking a sip, savoring the taste of stale but semi-warm blood on my tongue. I could barely think about years ago, how I changed. But I guess it was for the better.

**.v.X.^.X.v.**

The next day at school, I walked in slowly, taking cautions. I hadn't talked to anyone (except Erica) in a few days after the blood incident. It's either I didn't want to or I just didn't have the nerve to. I didn't trust them, like mentioned many times before. They may have seemed open and welcoming, but there had to be something behind that. I couldn't let them catch me off-guard. To be honest, I knew they were plotting against me. Staking me was a first. They could try to burn me inside a building like back in the old age. Or worse, they could torture me slowly instead of killing me, since it would be more enjoyable to see me suffer rather than kill me quickly. A dagger pressing against my throat would be clever. Magic would be smarter.

I had wandered off into a hallway when karma decided to be bitchy.

"_I'm ninety-nine percent sure that I found the right spell,_"

I made a face when I heard Benny's voice. Crap. So close. Now I _had _to be all nosy.

I turned around and noticed he and Ethan lower down in the hall. Walking up to them could start a controversy, whilst simply standing here and eavesdropping was more subdued and aloof. I leaned against some lockers, pretending to have an iPod in hand, trying to make the illusion that I was listening to music. I peered down at my cupped hand and listened in.

"_Okay, let's do it,_" said Ethan.

"But,_ I can't be sure how Jane pronounced it. She has to cast the reversal spell herself_."

"_Wonderful. And my parents?_"

"_Should return to normal once the spell's been reversed._"

"_Good, then all we have to do is find a life-size killer fashion doll and bring her down._" I mentally questioned the mention of a 'life-size killer fashion doll' and reversal spells and parents, but with those two plus this town, anything could be possible. "_Have you talked to Rory?_"

"_Yeah, he sent me a text saying he was busying hanging out with his new girlfriend._" I bit my tongue and snickered. _Again? _I was the one messing with these boys' minds, and me only. Who was this girl, and _what _did she think she was doing ruining my plans?

"_He's mad that we didn't let him in last night._"

"_Or he actually has a_ _girlfriend_..." The two laughed simultaneously. I rolled my eyes. The puppy-boy vampire could find love some day, since after all, he _was _immortal. He had forever to find a girl who was into him, and I couldn't see why not. Hell, _I'd _even go out with him if I chose to be committed into a relationship, but I wasn't ready for that. I chose the path of flirting and tampering with the easy minds of teenage boys, and I was happy with that.

The bell rang, and I started off to my next class.

**.v.X.^.X.v.**

After class, I caught glimpse of a blue-haired woman dressed in a pink and silver dress with metallic boots and tights, looking like she came from either a comic book or the 1950's. Maybe the 70's, because I never saw anyone in the 80's dress up like that. She had an uncanny resemblance to pop-star Katy Perry, but I highly doubted Katy Perry was touring in such a small town like Whitechapel. I came up to side, tapping her shoulder. She turned to me slowly and smiled.

"Are you okay, sweetie?" I asked, shrugging, hinting to how she was limping.

"I'm great, actually!" she squeaked. "I'm looking for my boyfriend, Rory." I was _this _close to choking on the air. And putting the pieces together, this girl wasn't normal. Must have been the doll the boys were talking about. I spotted them with Rory himself a couple feet away. The girl found her way over and I followed quickly.

"Are you guys talking about me?" she pondered, startling them.

"_What _exactly is going on here?" I questioned, putting my hands on my hips.

"There's my girl," Rory said happily. "How'd it go with Principal Hicks?"

"Oh, him? He was such a doll." the girl answered nonchalantly. "Hi, guys, did you miss me?" She came forward to hug the boys, but they squawked, frightened, and used Rory as a shield against her. I stared at them, shrugging. "Jumpy much?"

"Flesh, blood, and more than eight pounds of articulation. All things I intend to keep, thank you." Benny answered.

What in hell was he babbling about now?

"You're coming with us, Debby." Ethan informed her, seriously. He advanced past Rory, but he moved in front of this Debby girl, possessive about her.

"Over my undead body!" he shouted fiercely.

"I've only been here for a little while, and I already know she's dangerous," I concluded from my thought, going to simply hand the girl over to Ethan, but Rory got territorial with me and barred his fangs, hissing at me with sharp, golden eyes. I raised an eyebrow and hissed back, about to grab her without hesitation, but hands from behind pulling me back.

"So am I, so back off!" he warned. I narrowed my eyes into a glare as I watched him go away with Debby, wrapping an arm around her.

"Why'd you stop me?" I exclaimed, throwing the boys' hands off my jacket.

Something randomly and automatically seemed to click within the boys' minds. They both said, "Sarah." I scowled, crossing my arms.

Of course they'd let Sarah do the dirty work instead of me.

**.v.X.^.X.v.**

Now filled up to speed on the situation, I was definitely volunteering myself to take down Debby. I didn't really have a real reason for killing her. I didn't _need _one. God forbid she turned me into a doll. I can't have that happening. I'm not meant to be plastic, I'm supposed to be 100% full-fledged, drop-dead fabulous vampire, not a Barbie girl. Though, having my own doll would be pretty damn cool.

Apparently, the end of Debby, however, was at the hands of Erica, which pissed me off in a way, but pleased me, seeing that Debby would get almost equally enough suffering. I thought her what I knew, and it was coming in handy a lot lately. Still, I wanted to get into a good fight, since my sophomore experience was so far was completely dull, ruling out the Cubile Animus thing, where there was the big fight at the cinema. I needed to get back in action pretty soon, or else I'd be nothing more than a week-hungry fledgling.

"Still no call from Erica?" asked Ethan. "I guess she bailed on us. Great."

Sarah, shaking her head, responded, "No way. Erica may be self-absorbed, but she always comes through for me."

"Maybe she had something better to do." I said, smiling, looking at my nails. "You know, I'm still an–"

"_No._"

"Oh _come on_! Give me one good reason why I can't bitch-slap Debby." I said, looking up, folding my arms.

"You'd be dolled in a second, because you go straight for the kill, not planning out your moves."

I chuckled, almost laughing. Has this girl _met _me? Just before I made a snarky comeback, I saw Rory, Debby-less, coming up to us. "Well, well, _well._ Where's your girlfriend?" I queried, standing up from the cold, hard floor of the hallway and standing in front of him.

"Beats me," he said, with an _I could care less _face. "She went off looking for 'the one who made her.' You guys were right. That girl is whack. Sorry I vamped out."

I smiled, putting my hand on his shoulder and twirling a lock of hair. "It's okay. Just so you know, _I'll_ always be here." I pressed my fingers lightly on his shoulder and let them crawl up his neck, finding their place on his cheek. His expression dazed off to a dumbstruck one, staring into me. A smirk crossed my mouth as he nodded, looking more than happy, maybe even forgetting who Debby was in the first place. The world was back in order.

I turned around and shrugged. "What does she mean by 'the one who made her'?" I asked, curiously.

"Jane!" Ethan realized. "She's looking for Jane. I'm supposed to pick her up from school today."

"Give me the keys, I'll pick her up and meet you there," Sarah said, taking up the keys in Ethan's grasp. She hurried off.

"Well, what do we do?" Benny asked when she was gone.

"For now, I guess we just go to my house." Ethan replied.

"This time, I'm going inside, right?" The boys shrugged and kept walking. "I'm not standing outside again!" I called.

**.v.X.^.X.v.**

Ethan sure as hell made a smart move by loaning Sarah all his keys. We were locked out of the house. And since they didn't want me to break the lock, we went through the back door entrance. Now invited in, I stepped inside and followed them inside, through the kitchen and into the living room. By the door, waiting for us was Debby's detached head and body. Sarah was sitting on the stairs.

"Whoa, you pretzeled her _good_!" Benny said.

"Sarah, you okay?" worried Ethan. I rolled my eyes, because it was more than obvious he had a crush on her.

"I'm okay." she said, out of breath.

"That's creepy." I said, observing the head on the floor. Ethan went down and took up the head, holding it by the tangled mess of blue hair. I cringed.

"Ethan, what are you doing?" Benny asked, sounding creeped out. I wouldn't blame him. It was like a Child's Play movie come to life.

"Scare-finder rule number ten: Nothing can do anything without a head." the seer quoted with a smile.

Debby's arms shot up from the floor and took the sides of her head, grabbing it from Ethan's hands. We started screaming and we joined Sarah up the stairs. I hugged my knees, making sure I was out of reach. Debby put on her head and glared at us. Great. Now she was full-fledged _and _pissed off.

"_Sarah, where's Jane?_" Ethan whispered.

"She's in her hiding spot. You guys go, and I'll hold her off as long as I can." Sarah said to him.

I got up. "Can I make a rain check?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No. You're coming with me to go find out how she read the spell," Benny said, taking my hand. I wiggled out his hand and rolled my eyes.

"Nice try."

"What are you going to do?" he asked Ethan.

"I'm gonna buy us some time. C'mon!" he told us. He got up and went up the stairs quickly. I followed Benny's lead up the stairs to Ethan's room, where he hovered by the closet.

"Jane, I know you're in there." he said. "And I know how your mind works!" He sighed. "And we need to know how you said the fix-it spell." he admitted. He took the doorknob and toyed with it, jiggling it up and down. He sighed again. "What's your price?"

The closet door opened and a young blonde girl with hair in pigtails popped out, smirking. "I have a few ideas."

"Say them quick, squirt." I hassled. She looked at me quizzically.

"Who's she?"

"One of your many nightmares come to life," I told her sarcastically.

"Guys, get in the closet!" Ethan's voice ordered from the hallway. He came in, wearing a _sparkly _blue blouse and sparkly pink trousers. His dark hair was slicked back in grease or gel and a scruffy fake mustache was above his lip. I snickered with my mouth closed and pointed at him.

"Digging the Ken look." I teased.

"Just get in the closet and don't say a word!" Before I could protest, I was pushed into the closet, all the way to the wall to make room, then I found myself drifting off, maybe a quick five-minute nap.

**.v.X.^.X.v.**

_January • 1427_

_Middle-Aged England_

_Within a few days, Papa was dead. And one had not past that it was not on my mind. I could have saved him! I should have made Papa immortal, too, but I did not want to burden him with this living sin, and Andrey persists that I made the right choice in burying Papa and leaving with him._

_ Andrey served as my mentor to this new life. During the dawning, he was in the shadows, urging me to join him in roaming around town after town. I watched him feast on the pure and innocent, consuming an immeasurable amount of blood, both day and night, and creating a small coven of followers, none of which that I befriended._

_Andrey may have saved my life, but I could not possibly owe him, I barely knew him. But for some reason, he courted me, fascinated in me. I did not want the same. But only one thing I did angered Andrey—refusing to partake in human blood. I was a fledgling, close to dying because of it and because of the abandonment of my soul. My body could not survive without the sweet nectar, and even if I did crave it, I did not want it. I objected to killing humans._

_"Eva," Andrey said, my name rolling off his tongue in the English form, "please. Drink. You do not look well, my dear." From his own meal, he offered me the wrist of the female he dinned from, for there was already a bloody patch of blood and torn flesh upon her long, slender neck._

_My stomach turned and growled once my nose could pick up the lavish and tantalizing scent of the blood. The hunger in me burned, and on a hollow stomach, everything seemed fuzzy. Looking down at my skin which usually seemed to be at an olive complexion, it was pale white and I felt my face, feeling my flat cheekbones to be visible._

_"I am fine," I assured him._

_ Hearing my voice made me blench. Cracked and draining, suffering from lack in hemoglobin. My stomach howled again as the scent got staler, stronger. My tongue slicked itself across my lips and my fingers curled. My throat started to erupt in pain. I screamed, touching it as my teeth grew pointed and protruding. My throat started to broil and my instincts were heightened—I needed the taste. If I longed my life, I needed it._

_"A whole new world awaits." tempted Andrey, pointing out the woman's arm and waving it. My eyes stuck on their target._

_I found myself moving faster towards her. I wrapped my hands around her arm and went straight for her wrist, no longer fighting the temptation. The dark blood oozed through her and filled me, satisfied me. My throat ceased its throbbing and my eyes shut, soaking up the moment. My teeth tunneled harder into her. My stomach settled and welcomed its new alien contents into my system. I drew back for a small while, opening my eyes and licking the sides of my mouth and then going for her neck, on the other side of where Andrey bit into her. He joined me on the other side, and that night we spent eating the living, for I had a new perspective on vampiric life._

_**.v.X.^.X.v.**_

"Eva!" someone yelped, shaking me.

I blanked out of my dream and saw that the plan had been well executed. A doll-sized Debby Dazzle was on the floor, with a 70's version of Ethan rubbing his throat. His little sister was by his side out of comfort, but their eyes were on me. I was laying on the floor, holding my read, absorbing what happened after my departure. Benny had been the one who shook me awake.

"Are you okay?" he asked, looking quite concerned.

I nodded, brushing off my dazed expression. "Fine. Did we win?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. He nodded with a quirky smile. I sighed happily. "Thank God."

In the room came Sarah meekly, perplexed about what just happened. "What happened to me?" she inquired. Her eyes focused on Ethan now. "What happened to you?"

"Nice hair, man," Benny said, shrugging.

I giggled, then saw that the two dolls on the bed were changed back into Ethan's parents, hence my cue to leave. I whispered a goodbye and sped out the house, the house slamming behind me. It was making it easier for them, avoiding the need to explain the random pretty girl in the room.

* * *

_**Kisses! ~TwistedTelepath**_


	6. Me and Mr Weir

**A/N: Happy Thanksgiving, America! I hope you guys are having a great time with your turkey and stuff, I wish I had some. I went to go see Frozen today, and I think I cried a little. AWESOME movie, nothing like Tangled, if you're a true Disney fan, you MUST go and see it! See it, see it, see it! And Catching Fire if you haven't already! Okay, here's the fifth chapter, my favourite chapter so far, and we have some sexy moments! OOOH! Check it.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own MBaV.**

* * *

_V. Me and Mr. Weir_

_S1E5: Double Negative_

"We're getting our hair done after school, you wanna come, Sarah?" I asked. Chills ran up my spine as I waited for her answer. I obviously wasn't the type of person to be nice. And those were dirty words that I _never _thought I would've asked. I know, first of all, there's no _point _in getting my hair done for Picture Day when I couldn't show up on camera, but I _do _enjoy pampering up just to make the other girls jealous. Last year, I made heads turn, and this year, I had to make them _roll._

And second of all, it's really out of character of me to invite Sarah to anything, but it's for Erica's sake, so why not? It won't _kill _me... but maybe it'll leave me with some regrets.

Instead of saying accepting, Sarah chose to say, "Why are you two getting a makeover for the yearbook photo? Vampires don't even show up on film."

"I know, but this would have been my first hot yearbook photo ever!" Erica said, sounding kind of pitchy. "The others were..."

"Not your best photo?"

"Exactly! Look, I don't care if nobody else can see it. I'll know I looked good."

"You go girl!" I cheered, clapping. Her self-esteem was way better, and I was proud of her progress.

She rolled her eyes at me and faced Sarah again. "What about you? Don't you care?"

The fledgling sighed. "I don't know. I kind of just wish I could forget this whole year."

I sighed too, rolling my eyes. "Hey. Don't push your negativity on me. Look on the bright side! You're hot, semi-immortal, and all-powerful, who else can complain about that?" I asked, trying to provoke a point. I knew plenty of fledglings who chose to die rather than feed on human blood and many that talked _nonstop _about the downsides to being a vampire, but from what I've obtained, being a vampire was a lifesaver. You never grew old, you could never get sick, and you could go wherever you wanted. You could practically travel the world in a week or two.

Ethan rounded the corner and came to us. "Hey, Sarah? Um... a girl just asked me if could trust me. What does that mean? Is that a trap?"

My eyes widened. "It means you're about to get _laid_!" I squealed. Sarah hit me and I flinched, not because it hurt, but because I didn't see it coming.

"What does _that _mean?" she asked Ethan.

"What do you mean?" he asked back.

"Sarah, you've got to stop hanging our with him. You're going to turn into the same person as them! Next thing you know, you'll be reading comic books and snorting when you laugh." Erica scowled, rolling her eyes. Chick had a point.

Ethan snorted, and I couldn't make out what he said along with that. Point proved. "Hannah Price just asked if she could trust me. Can she?"

"Can she?" Sarah repeated.

"I can't watch this happen!" Erica said, going to leave. "You coming, Eva?"

"_Nah, I'd love to see how this goes..._" I whispered, leaning back. She rolled her eyes and went off. "Hey. I'm still right on the part that she wants to see if the Morgan Machine is large and in charge. But be–"

"She probably just likes him." Sarah scoffed, rolling her eyes.

"Well, dammit, I'm disinterested. I'm going to get some food." I put my hands in my pockets and wandered off.

**.v.X.^.X.v.**

Well. Hannah Price _was _acting weird. Earlier this morning, she said my earring were pretty, but a couple minutes later, she came back and said that my breath smelt worse than the football team after practice. And I knew Hannah for a while. She was really nice, seemed like she wouldn't swat a fly, even if it was bothering her, but you did _not _want to get on her bad side. And last time I checked, I never did anything to her, or well, anything lately.

And now I was realizing I was _really _bored, because I was hanging out with Ethan and Benny.

"So, this morning, Hannah Price asked if she could... _ confide in me.._" Ethan said, as if he was saying dirty words. I rolled my eyes, walking with them.

"Dude, it's a trap." his best friend replied. I groaned. "What does that even mean?"

"I knew it! Next time I saw her, she swore like my dad in traffic!"

"There are two sides to every girl, like a coin: Heads, she's crazy. Tails? ... Same as heads."

"Hey, Cammie!" I heard Hannah say. I turned to see her talking to another girl. "Oh, I totally love your skirt!" she complimented nicely. I shrugged and turned my head away from them, easily bored. Hannah still seemed like same-old perky Hannah.

"Tails," Benny called out.

I heard something crash on the floor and I immediately went to see that Hannah was over by a boy, whose books were scattered on the floor. He bent down to pick them up. Hannah wore a nasty smirk as she said, "Oops! I am _so _sorry!" She walked away, cackling like a witch. Now that was a shitload of crazy girl.

"Tails... good luck with that..."

"Hey, she's actually pretty nice." I said, shaking my head. I got an idea. "Maybe she has her... monthly... cycle?" The boys turned to look at me, confused. My jaw almost dropped. "It makes you pretty cranky. Don't mess with a girl while she's on her period."

"So, I guess you're on your period everyday." Ethan chuckled. I nudged him in the gut.

**.v.X.^.X.v.**

"Haha, yes! Now _that _was a three-pointer!" exclaimed Hannah out of arrogant victory. Just a little while ago, she had successfully struck Rory down with a... baseball bat? And she definitely was on her period... overtime. All those angry hormones inside her and now way of getting out... _yikes_. She wasn't herself. This whole "bad bitch" act wasn't fooling me. Not every girl can pull it off. And from the scared, horrified, and confused looks she was getting from the entire student lounge, she sharply threatened, "Who else wants some of this?" before sitting back down at her lonely table.

I sprawled myself on two chairs and tried _not _to pay attention to her, but it was a tad bit hard.

"If she asks you out," Benny advised, "you better say yes." I gave a thumbs-up while sipping from my styrofoam cup. This bitch was crazy.

Hannah must've heard him, because she rose from her seat and started over, making me almost choke out my blood. Oh _shit._

"She sees us!" Ethan said.

"Just act natural."

"Well, I'm naturally nervous, so that should be easy."

I put my cup casually on the table and put on my best poker face. No way was she gonna threaten _me._

Hannah arrived at the table and nastily said, "Baby crying to his girlfriend crying 'cause he can't be Superman in the yearbook?" I stared at her bluntly. I resisted my urge to bite her. I took my cup and sipped out of it, trying to sustain myself._  
_

"She's not my girlfriend," he sneered before I could say it myself. "And _Superman_? Please. He's a little too retro, a little too old school." As he leaned back, Hannah took his lunch tray and tilted it, making everything come falling down on his pants. I almost giggled, but then I stopped myself.

"Aww... and it was such a nice nerd shirt." she cooed sarcastically. "But don't worry. You have the sluttiest girl in school sitting next to you. I'm sure she'll lick it off." My eyes widened, alarmed. No way did she call me a slut. I knew I flirted with boys, but that's _all _I did. I didn't have the audacity to go and have sex with them!

I stood up and took a handful of her shirt, crunching it up in my hand and glared at her hard. "_What _did you just say?" I demanded. She looked scared for a minute, but then a smile played on her lips.

"You heard me. You're a slut. A dirty, disgusting slut." she said, smiling.

I nearly lost it and bit her, but Ethan managed to pry my off her. She walked away, laughing her head off. I should've tore her throat out, so that crusty, annoying little laugh couldn't come out.

"I don't care how much of a crush she has on you," Benny growled, "she just made Benny's list."

My arms crossed tightly around me as I glared at the wall. My face felt hard and my mouth twitched. I was _not _a whore. No one could put such a vial and twisted thing inside my head. My teeth were barred and I could hear myself growl.

"Eva, are you okay?" Ethan asked, tugging on my shirt. "You know that's not true."

I shook my head. "I need a drink." I stared at the styrofoam cup. "A _real_ one." I stood up and left the room.

**.v.X.^.X.v.**

"Mmph! Ah!"

My teeth pushed harder into the delicate, soft skin of my victim's throat. His moans were struggling into screams and his color was going paler and paler by the second. I've been eating nonstop since yesterday evening. I guess it was my stress-reliever. I didn't care about overeating side effects. I didn't want this to get to me, but it just bothered me. I knew I wasn't a slut, but the words came out of Hannah's mouth harshly and it hurt me a little.

Okay... more than a little.

"Wow," breathed a voice. "Never seen a chick eat like that."

The body in my arms dropped and I stared up at the figure behind me. It was Benny... but at the same time, it wasn't Benny. This Benny had on the same purple polo shirt he had on yesterday, but had on a tight-fitting leather jacket and a toothpick in his mouth. He smiled, rubbing the corner of my mouth with his thumb.

"What do you want?" I asked, rolling my eyes.

"You." I froze. "Isn't it obvious, sweetheart?"

"Um... What?"

My fangs changed back into my teeth. He took my chin, tilted it up and kissed me on my lips. I wanted to pull away, but there was something about his warm touch and his lips that drew me in. I wrapped my arms slowly around his waist and let him push into me. I shut my eyes and licked his lips. He tasted great. His hands glued to my thighs and then slid up my stomach, sending a dark and sexy feeling across my skin in the form of blissful goosebumps. He pulled away from me and lifted me up, holding me up under my butt. I let out a strangled moan and ran my hand down his chest, biting his lip, not with fangs of course. My hands roamed under his shirt as I went down to kiss his neck.

Just as my hands got attached to him and comfortable with his sudden sexiness, the bell rang, starting the first class of the day. I pushed away, realizing what I just did. Benny smiled at me, pinching my butt. My cheeks burned as I giggled.

"You're not a slut," he said, his voice smooth and buttery. "You're a goddess."

I smirked, but grew silent, stuttering. I grabbed my bag and stalked off to class. I massaged my temples and tried to recollect what just happened. I... kissed Benny... maybe even more than a kiss. Maybe even for a slight second, I _wanted _him. I-I couldn't have liked him. I mean, he helped demolish my plans for bringing my friends back on Earth... Or, maybe that was really mean, considering we had to kill 219 innocent teenage girls...

No. I did what I had to do...

**.v.X.^.X.v.**

Just after first period and on my way to an art club meeting, I spotted Benny, leaning against the wall next to the boys' washroom. I almost jumped, but I gathered up myself inside and walked straight past him. But his hand grabbed my wrist, forcing me to look back at him. He took out the stupid toothpick from his mouth and I barely managed to break free of his grip. I groaned.

"I believe we didn't finish what we started." he spoke, looping an arm around my waist. I scowled and pried it off me. "Sweetheart, where're you going?"

"Away from you. I can't believe you tricked me into kissing you!" I lashed out, but not loud enough to attract attention. "I-I don't even like you! And–"

He hushed me by putting a finger on my lips. "Don't talk. You're prettier when you don't talk."

Before I could demand what was wrong with him, he took up an old 1950's-like camera from the floor and pushed me into the bathroom against my will. I fought him, but kicking his ankles and slapping him wasn't exactly the best fight I put up. He grabbed me in his arms and crushed another kiss against my lips, and that lustful feeling inside me fizzed up inside me. His hand rubbed against my shoulder, letting the strap of my tank top fall, and he did the same to the other, so my top's neckline unstably rested underneath my bra. I shook my head and pulled them back up. Then, I pushed him into the wall and got into a starting position to run, but he took me by my ankles and hauled me down too.

"You _know _you want me, or else you wouldn't have kissed me." he purred, running his fingers through my hair. I gasped, trying to get up, but his legs were sprawled on me. "You know you want _him._"

"No! Get-get off me!" I pulled his legs up but he pushed me back down. "What do you mean him?"

"I _mean _goody-two-shoes Benny."

"But _you're _Benny, you idiot!"

"No!" another voice said. "_I'm _Benny." I tilted my head down to see _Benny _standing by the door. I was dumbfounded. But-but Benny was right there! On top of me! I managed to lift the other Benny's legs off me and stagger back. I got up, exasperated, and looked at the Benny who had stormed in.

"What the fuck is going on?" I shouted. "W-why are there two of you?"

"Long story short, there's a camera that concentrates all your bad into one form, a.k.a. an evil twin." the Benny by me explained quickly.

I raised my eyebrow and pointed at the Benny in the leather jacket. "So... that's your evil twin?"

"What makes you think I'm the evil one?" the seductive and evil Benny asked me, smirking. "Maybe I'm normal and you're just a goody-goody." he said to the good Benny. I narrowed my eyes. What part of that made sense?

"Yeah, I don't think either of us is is smart enough to make any sense of that," denied Good Benny. "Only one of us is leaving this washroom."

"What if I cook 'ya? Use the magic you never had the stomach to use, eh?" Evil Benny had his hand stretched out towards Good Benny. "Turn 'ya inside-out, maybe?"

"Great," laughed Good Benny, "I bet you're no better at magic than I am." He scanned the twin up and down. "Nice jacket, though. Looks so real..."

"Eva seemed to _love _my jacket," Evil Benny said, winking at me. "Isn't that right, sweetheart?" he asked me. I shook my head. "She was _so _into me. I bet she'd never do to you the things she did to me." He grinned.

I growled and went for him, already fed up of just sitting on the sidelines, just letting him insult me. I took fistfuls of his faux leather jacket and pinned him against the wall. He chuckled and pushed me down to the floor. How was he stronger than me? Just about when I was going to take him on again, Good Benny stepped in, engaging a fight between the two of them. And it was a little pathetic. They were holding each other against the bathroom walls.

"You're such a jerk!" Good Benny whined.

"I know you are, but what am I?" Evil Benny teased.

Miraculously, Good Benny managed to find the strength to advance on the twin, shoving him into a bathroom stall and pushing him up against the wall. He went into his pocket, pulling out a photograph.

"Haha! You dropped something!"

I rolled my eyes at the lame joke and got up, holding Evil Benny by the shoulders. He looked at me, trying to break free, but this time I had a firm grip. I tightened my hold once Good Benny tossed the picture into the toilet.

"_Time's up, sweetheart_." I whispered in his ear as the toilet flushed, the picture with it. Pigments of colors shined from the toilet and Evil Benny disappeared when a streak of the lights pointed at him. I sighed full of relief and dusted my hands. "You okay?" I asked, hearing Benny sigh too.

"I just flushed myself down the toilet... I'm gonna need some time." he said. I giggled and rubbed his shoulder. I turned to go, but he took my arm. "Hey, what did Evil Benny mean by... you know... 'I bet she'd never do to you the things she did to me'?"

I held my breath and shrugged. "He... pressured me into kissing him, okay? It-it didn't mean anything." He looked surprised. He was about to say something, but he just nodded and let go of me. I smiled awkwardly and left the bathroom. I knew I didn't like-like Benny... but the kiss and... how I didn't stop him... it just didn't click. Maybe it was just because how forceful and passionate he was being.

**.v.X.^.X.v.**

At the end of school, I didn't find myself heading home. I was sitting on a bench outside school, my hands in my hair, almost ready to yank it all out, when someone called my name. I turned around and Sarah was not too far behind me.

"Don't you have a new Vampire Diaries episode to watch?" she taunted, raising her eyebrows. I shrugged solemnly. "What's wrong?"

"I-I'm confused," I stuttered. I hated feeling weak around her, but I had no one to talk to at the time. "Something... _happened _today, with a guy, and I'm not sure if I like him or not, because my feelings were there in the first place. But then he made the first move and kissed me... and I got sorta lost in the moment, enjoying it, and eating up how much he desired me."

"Who?" she asked, sitting next to me. I shook my head. "Eva, if you tell me, I'm sure I can–"

"Benny."

She stopped and stared at me blankly. "Benny?" she repeated bluntly. I nodded. "_Our _Benny? Benny Weir?"

"No, Benny the Bull," I replied sarcastically. "Of course _that_ Benny, what other Benny are we talking about?"

"Wow... that's... _something._" Sarah breathed. "What happened?"

"Ugh, it's complicated."

"Try me."

I went ahead and started from the beginning, when Evil Benny seduced me the first time this morning, and how much I was practically begging for it. Then I moved on to talk about what happened in the washroom, with the good versus evil fight, and how Good Benny asked me about what Evil Benny was babbling about. And I questioned myself discreetly about _why _I was telling _Sarah _all about this, but she was the only person right now who could pass as my Dr. Phil. I didn't trust her with this information, but it just felt good to talk about it with something. When I was finished, she snickered, comforting me with her hand on my back.

"So, do you like him?" she asked, tilting her head.

"Uh..." I looked down at the ground, crossing my legs. "I-I don't know! First of all, I made out with the evil twin, not the real thing, so I-I don't know how I feel! I'm-I'm just really confused right now. And second of all– uh, why would I tell you?"

"Eva, I know there's this little tension between us," Sarah said gently, "but that's a wedge that Jesse put between us. You're not a complete bitch. Under the black leather jacket and the brassy attitude, there's a kind, soft, heartfelt girl who just wants to be accepted." My face grew pale. Why would she assume this? "After seeing what you can do, influenced by good, I actually trust you. It's only right that you trust me."

I bit my lip and crossed my arms. I didn't think she could be so empathetic and compassionate. I could feel myself shedding and skimming down from a cold heart to warmer one, and I didn't want to. But parts of me wanted to trust her. Parts of me wanted to trust everyone else, too. I didn't want this to happen. I never wanted this to happen, but nature has things in store for everyone, and I didn't know which path I would take next in my life. Everything in the future reflected the choices I made now, and did I really want to live the rest of my high school life as Jesse's mistrusting, bitchy sister?

"I trust you." I said in a quiet voice, almost like a hushed whisper. The words sizzled down my throat, almost burned me... but they felt good in a way.

* * *

_**Kisses! ~TwistedTelepath**_


	7. Eye of the Tiger

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

* * *

_VI. Eye of the Tiger_

_S1E6: Friday Night Frights_

After confessing and expressing all my inner feelings—anger, hatred, melancholy, envy, and above all, prejudice—to Sarah, it led me to telling her about what built me to feel this way, and basically, it took most of the night, so she called her mother to inform her that she was "sleeping over." This felt weird to me, but I reluctantly agreed.

Sarah wasn't all that bad when you got to know her. She was actually very sweet and caring, sympathetic and charitable. In ways, we could related to another, on topics like Erica and Jesse. Blowing off steam with her was like my morphine. I had been so stressed lately, and talking to her made me feel calm, safe, and stable. I really could trust her, no matter what my feral instincts told me.

A few days later, at school, I adjusted my sunglasses and walked in very straightforward, hands in my back pockets. I looked down at my outfit, composed of a flowing orange, poncho-like shirt, black skinny jeans, brown chunky ankle boots with a minor heel, and a collection of silver and gold bracelets on my left wrist. I straightened my hair today, with help from Sarah, so it was up to my waist and had a bump. I continued to chew my gum as I saw Mr. G, the school's oddball, hippie-like teacher, who also serviced as the gym coach, with the boys by the old one-trophy trophy case, and gave them a warm welcome.

"What are we doing over here?" I asked, swapping my gum to the other side of my mouth.

"Say goodbye, guys." Mr. G said. "Time to out this old relic into storage."

"But isn't that like, the only trophy Whitechapel High has ever won?" Ethan asked in surprise. I nodded. It wasn't even won by their generation; it was own like about thirty to fifty years ago. It's pretty sad.

"Yeah, but, uh... It sends the wrong message, you know? Winning isn't everything." _Please_ tell me this wasn't his attempt to save the school's dignity and name in front of the newbie freshmen. "Yeah sure, our teams come last in points, but oh boy, we come first in many other important areas."

"Yeah, like point... avoiding?" Benny said. I didn't know if he was joking or making a sad point to help Mr. G out. Ethan and Rory chirped in laughter as I rolled my eyes.

"Hey, Mr. G's right! We've got... spirit... and charisma!" I pointed out, shooting them a glare, but I was sure they couldn't see it through my glasses. This only amused them more, because they kept chuckling. "_Pft_."

"That is one _sad_ trophy case." mused Rory.

Mr. G sighed, knowing he was right, and closed the case. He motioned the trophy towards me. "Eva, could you hold this for a second?"

"Sure thing." I said, taking it up in my hands. I almost stumbled. I didn't know it was heavy.

"Lemme help," Ethan said, holding the other end of the trophy. He froze. "Do you feel that?"

"What, those Honey-nut Cheerios you had for breakfast? Yeah." His hand covered mine and I could feel something now, like an electrical shock and a buzz of energy. Maybe he picked up something from the trophy and passed it along to me. Seers could feel all sorts of supernatural energies.

A ray of light pushed forward from the trophy and suddenly and _very_ tall man with dark skin, mad muscles, killer sideburns, and a mini-afro came into view behind Benny and Rory, cross-armed, wearing an old Whitechapel High uniform. I gasped, startled. Coach Ed? But didn't he _die_?

"Nerd alert," Coach called out, checking out the boys. He ruffled up Benny's hair. "Get a haircut, beanpole."

"_Oh my God,_" I whispered in shock, taking the idea of the ghost coach. I was guessing that only Ethan and I could see him, because Benny blamed Rory for messing with his hair. Coach walked past them and in front of us, past the heated and continued argue between the two geeks.

"Eva Badica?" he asked, sort of in surprise, but in a happy tone. "You're still here?" I nodded.

I know what I said, I passed along as Jesse's younger sister, but remember when I said I roamed elsewhere without him? I came back to town for a while, some point in the 1980's, to scoop out what had changed, including the school. That's when I had encountered Coach. He tolerated me, but I thought of him high. He was the school's best coach, practically a god.

"Been here for a while, Coach." I said, smiling. He knew of my secret after a... misunderstood incident in the boys' locker room, but he promised he'd keep it, and he obviously took it to his grave.

"You still look good, princess." he complimented with a smile.

"The afterlife treated you good," I said, nodding as I scanned him, "you literally haven't aged a day."

In the midst of our reunion, Coach noticed Ethan standing by me. "Wait, you can see me, too, mop-top?" Ethan nodded, probably still taking him in.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"Well, I'm a winner, kid. Probably why you don't recognize me. I was the best coach this school ever had before it was overrun by nerds, like you nerds." Coach said. I nodded, since it was true. He may have acted like a madman when the school lost, but he whipped it into shape... until he died.

"Hey!" squeaked Ethan, offended by what he said. I rolled my eyes and tuned back into the mini-war in front of us, featuring lame and weird nerd-fuelled insults back to back.

"Why don't you transform and roll out, Dumblebee!" retorted Benny.

"You're a warp-ten butthead!" snapped back Rory.

I mentally slapped myself. Great, now Coach could taunt me about hanging out with nerds. I gave Ethan a knowing look, crossing my arms.

He shrugged. "Point taken. So, what so you want?"

"First, I'd like to thank you for letting me out of that trophy. Feels great to be free after thirty years, because now I can finally do things like this." Coach pointed a finger at Ethan's pants, making them drop. He now modelled spaceship boxers. I felt my mouth wiggle into a smile and then I dropped laughing.

Coach still had it.

**.v.X.^.X.v.**

At lunch, instead of grabbing a bite as I promised my body, I sat down inside with the boys to talk about Coach Ed. I had flew all the way home and brought my old yearbook, which was ironic because I was in none of the photos, maybe the blank ones or the ones with gaps next to people. I wasn't the only vampire attending WC High in the 80's. I gave the book to Ethan, the page opened to Coach's little biography.

"Coach Ed was the gym teacher back in the day, thirty years ago. He was really arrogant and competitive, which made him feared and tough. He was hardcore—test him, and you _would_ suffer." I summed up, my elbows touching the table.

"He's ancient!" Rory said, astounded. I stared at him, offended. "What?"

"_I'm_ ancient." I pointed out.

"Okay, you may be like _two_ years older, but that doesn't make you ancient, Eves. Sarah's older than you." He grinned and I laughed at his cluelessness.

"She's over five-hundred years old, genius," Benny said flatly.

Rory stared at me, his jaw wide open. "Whoa! You're not ancient, you're a dinosaur! No... An Evasaurus Rex."

I giggled and rolled my eyes.

"Is he here right now?" Benny asked, leaning in towards Ethan. I frowned as I gestured with my eyes to Coach, who was hovering by the two. Coach smacked the sandwich in Benny's hand with his own hand, signalling his presence.

"Nice sandwich, Halter Top." Coach sneered.

"I'll take that as a yes... jerk!"

"There must be some way to stop him or get him to move on," Ethan said, presumably half to himself.

I looked up at Coach. Hopefully, he had something better to do in hell and or heaven rather than torture teenagers.

"Fat chance," he said sternly. "I ain't going anywhere."

******.v.X.^.X.v.**

I sighed, searching the hallway until I saw Rory, accompanied by Benny. I went to him, grabbing his collar and pulled him away as I led the way. Puzzled, Benny followed us anyway.

"Whoa, I had a dream like this once," Rory gawked, smiling, "and you were dressed in this Catwoman suit, which _really_ looked good on you–"

"I'm not going to tie you to a chair and interrogate you with kisses, if that's the dream you're talking about." I said, cutting him off.

"How'd you know?"

"It's an old vampire thing, dream manipulation. I'll teach you when you're older, I just need you right now."

"Anything for you, sweetness."

I laughed and brought them to a locker. Then I kicked it, making the person inside cry out in pain. "Coach done squished Ethan in there, I need assistance to pry him out."

"You in there, buddy?" Benny asked, leaning into the locker.

"Yeah, can you guys get me out?" Ethan's voice requested. I decided not to listen to him when he spouted out the combo. I just yanked the lock off and opened the door. I giggled at how squeezed he was inside.

I looked at Rory and we both took an arm, trying to pull him out, but he was whimpering. _Obviously_ it was gonna hurt, so deal with it!

"Coach jammed you in there good," Rory said as we continued pulling on him. "We might have to dislocate one of your shoulders to get you out, okay?"

"No!" Ethan whined. I groaned, letting go of him and tying my hair up in a messy bun, then pulled on him again. It took a little while, but then we eventually got him out, but sadly _without_ dislocating one of his shoulders. I patted his shoulders and straightened him up with minor cracks playing a role, then patted his cheek.

"All better." I sang smugly. "You'll repay me later."

"I don't get why he doesn't pick on you."

"Because I'm awesome. Awesome people don't get picked on." The boys stared at me in tormenting disbelief. I sighed. "He's just picking on you because you're a nerd. I'm not a nerd. Simple."

"C'mon, Benny, aren't there any spells that get rid of ghosts?"

"Nice try." scoffed Coach. "My curse is ten times stronger than any little weenie magic show. Might as well give up now."

"What's your deal? Is this all about that dumb trophy?"

I covered my mouth. Oh _shit_, Coach wouldn't like that.

"That trophy's not dumb!" seethed Coach. "That trophy represents this school's finest hour; the school's only fine hour!"

"Okay, fine! If I get it back in the case, will you leave me alone?"

"The only way I'm moving on is if you win me a shiny new trophy," Coach proposed.

Ethan choked into laughter. "Me? Win a trophy? For sports?" Coach nodded as he kept on laughing. I put my hands on my hips and waited for him to stop. It wasn't going to be _my_ fault if he got blown up by a ghost coach. "No way. Not in a million years."

"A million years? I can do that." He pointed at Ethan's pants again making them fall again. The boys laughed once more.

"And I can live for a million years, so be careful what you do, Ethan." I said though my teeth. No way was I having Coach stalk me around for the rest of my immortal life. We needed a plan and fast, before he got sick of dropping Ethan's pants and moved in to dropping mine.

**.v.X.^.X.v.**

"Don't you have something better to do than follow me home?" I asked, squeezing blood from a bag into a wine glass. Coach was sitting on my couch, watching a football game, pointing out the weak points of each team. I saw him shrug. "Do you want some water?" He shook his head. "Gatorade?" He nodded with a smile.

"Drink of the champs," he chuckled. I went in the fridge and managed to find a bottle of green Gatorade deep inside. I kicked the door shut and brought it to him then slumped down next to him. "What's this TV called again?"

"A flat-screen." I replied, stirring my thick drink with a straw. "You'd like something like this."

There was a moment of silence.

"What's a pretty girl like you doing hanging out with a buncha nerds, anyway?" Coach asked me after taking a chug of Gatorade.

"I just need a project to keep me occupied."

"You look at Beanpole in a weird way. What, do you like him?"

I swallowed the blood in my mouth and froze. Fuck, not him too. "I don't like him like that. And his name's Benny. Get it straight." I took another sip out of the glass and took the remote, channel-surfing.

"Admit it, Badica, you're not a player anymore. You dig him." He grinned. I rolled my eyes. If Ethan decided _not_ to win a trophy, this was gonna be a long couple hundred years.

**.v.X.^.X.v.**

"Now in the spirit of non-competition, I pledge to be a non-partisan referee for tonight's match. So, uh, may every man win. Or at least survive." I heard Mr. G tell Kurt and Ethan. Oh _Jesus_.

A lot can happen in the time of a few days, and that included Ethan picking a fight with the biggest bastard in the town's system of pro-wrestling. Kurt "The Hurt" Lochner: crazy, competitive, and a champion. Hard to beat. But Ethan better win!

"And so, representing Conway Collegiate, we have Kurt 'The Hurt' Lochner!" Mr. G announced, making the crowd rally in cheers and excitement. As they calmed down, he continued by saying, "And representing Whitechapel High, we–"

Benny abruptly took the microphone from Mr. G, and I hid my head from being seen.

"From a land of fear and nightmares, comes a warrior born to destroy. He only speaks violence, he knows only hatred, and his headlock is a crime against humanity!" he said dynamically. "Behold! The Ethanator!" he shouted for a long time as he presented Ethan, who came in dramatically, consorted with Rory, who somehow got ahold of flickering sparklers and flashy lights. The crowd booed and a moved a bench down to not be associated with them.

The two contenders proceeded to the center of the gym to shake hands. Kurt gave Ethan a dirty look.

"Do your catchphrase!" Rory demanded excitedly. "Do it!"

"Prepare to be Ethanized." Ethan snarled, almost as if it were a real threat. I shook my head in disapproval as the crowd buzzed in confusion too. What the hell was that? That was a fluffy-bunny catchphrase. We needed a vicious, hungry tiger catchphrase.

Kurt beheld an apple and crushed it in the palm of his hand, saying, "You're not gonna like these apples." He tossed the chunks and pieces at Ethan.

Now _that_ was a vicious, hungry tiger catchphrase. If he was the guy cursed by Coach Ed, I totally would've been on his team, but 'ya know, I had to stick with Ethan out of pity. _Great_.

"Even his catchphrase is better!" Ethan griped.

I shrugged and gave him a silent salute. I was walking down Main Street the other day, and there was a dashing suit in a bridal shop that would be perfect for his funeral. Wonder how'd he'd look in it.

Coach appeared next to Ethan, whispering, so I couldn't hear him over the other people in the gym. The whistle blowing signaled the beginning of the match. My phone beeped in my pocket and I retrieved it as the match went on, with sounds of groans and oohs from the crowd. I went to the door and leaned against the wall, holding it up to my ear.

"You've reached Eva. Speak." I said, looking down at my ring.

"_Eva, it's Rose._" the voice on the other end said. "_You _busy?"

"Well, yeah, I'm sort of caught up in a high school wrestling match, but you know I always have time for you," I told her, batting my eyes. "What's wrong, love?"

"_Nothing actually. Ooh, but guess what!_"

"_What_?" I asked in the same excited tone.

"_My aunt says I can come and stay with you for a few months, and actually have a real experience away from private school!_"

"Oh my God, that's really great!" I exclaimed. There was a thud against the ground. I turned my head and saw that Kurt had Ethan around his neck, wearing him as a shall. I sucked my teeth and turned back to the wall. "Okay, Roza, I gotta call 'ya back. Text me the juicy details later, honey. Muah!"

"_Muah!_"

I hung up my phone and made my way over quickly. I crossed my arms as Kurt turned to me, stepping away from the boys.

"Hey, gorgeous. Wanna grab a bite after this?" he flirted, observing me.

I scowled. "No, but maybe I'll reconsider later." I tapped his neck and smiled, winking. He had no idea what I would have in store for him later. He smirked and flashed a smile and jogged back to the center of the gym. The boys stared at me, disgusted.

"What? Food's food. You can _never_ be too picky." I advised, waving my finger at them. I held my arms and observed the drastically beaten boy at my feet. By his facial expression, he was covered in pain, and that made his heart thump faster, and his blood even more valuable to me, but I restrained myself as the boys helped him up.

"Get up. Take a seat dude." Benny told him.

"You survived a whole round without him breaking your spine in half! Nice!" added Rory, awfully optimistically.

"Sorry, dude, but for a guy in agony, you sure do make some funny faces!"

I rolled my yes, scowling again. "Are you _okay_?" I asked, crouching down to the floor, hugging my knees.

"Yeah." Ethan answered, pausing.

"Ethan!" My head revolved itself to see Sarah coming over, looking concerned. "You don't know what you're up against! This guy is unstoppable!"

"I guess that's why you like him."

"What? I don't like him?"

"Come on! I saw you watching him. Talking, laughing, _canoodling!_"

_Canoodling?_ That's a word? What the hell is that? And _how _did I miss out on Sarah flirting with Kurt? Maybe with Coach Ed haunting me, day and night, I had no time to be nosy and do my daily eavesdropping. Son of a bitch ruined my schedule!

"_Mad canoodling._" Benny corrected.

"Noodle what?" Sarah asked, maybe just as muddled as I was. "Look, I thought Erica turned him into a vampire, so I was watching him. I even checked his neck for marks, which was hard, since he's so ticklish." She made the last part sound amusing. The only part of me that would come in contact with that guy's neck were my fangs. He wasn't really hot enough to be kissed or toyed with. "But I do not like him!"

I stood, my arms folded so tightly that they came in contact with my ribs. "Now that those tensions out of the way, _how _do you all suppose we win this match?"

Coach suddenly embodied himself, directing his words towards Ethan when he said, "You can't win by points anymore. You're gonna have to pin him to win."

"I have to pin him?" Ethan asked. "Impossible!"

"How about some magic?" Benny suggested. "Let's see how well he wrestles with worms in his ears." He stretched his hands out, prepping himself in case it came to that.

"I could always bite him." I said, grinning. "There's a reason I came on an empty stomach."

"No magic, and no snacking, princess," Coach told me, shaking his head in disapproval. I rolled my eyes and eased myself from excitement and hunger. "He has to beat him fair ad square, or the deal's off."

"No magic, Benny, we can't cheat." Ethan clarified.

"Then think of something! Everyone has a weakness, right?" Sarah hassled. "Just find it and exploit it."

I sighed and placed my hands on my hips. Coach, without warning, took up Ethan in his shoulders. "Maybe you need a little heart." With his ghostly form, he reached into the poor boy's chest and squeezed in the pit of his hand his heart, which nearly made my instincts grow taut. I swallowed my urge to panick and laid my hands on Couch. I pried him away from Ethan with all my strength and only made Coach falter back. He growled angrily at me, but I refused to let myself bleat to him.

I went to the floor to support Ethan up, letting his arm drop around my neck to steady him.

"It's no use," he said, doubtfully. "I can't win. I've never won a fight... _ever._"

"False. Remember that time in grade two, when I took your Pokemon lunch box?" Benny questioned. "You whipped me good! I almost cried." He looked like the memory was briefly coming to him like a flashback, but when I stared at him divertedly, he cleared his throat and stood cooly. "I said almost. Crying... crying's-"

"Save it, little baby." I cut him off sharply, chuckling.

As if this helped, Ethan seemed improved, with an idea and a smile. "Grade two... That gives me an idea. Thanks, Benny." He went off, back to face Kurt at the gym's center. The whistle went off for round two. For this round, I decided to sit myself with the gang. They gave me weird, knowing looks, but I rolled my eyes.

"What? I... I didn't like it much over there. It's a bit quieter over here," I explained, dangling the bracelet around my wrist. I bypassed their looks and focused myself on the fight, which took an abnormal turn. Ethan ran towards Kurt and slid between his opened legs, coming behind him on his knees. He brought his arms around Kurt's waist... _hugging _him. Was that allowed?

Then, everything was somewhat cleared up when Benny shouted, "The snuggie-bear hug! He's got it locked on, there's no escape!"

Kurt was pushed down onto the mat, and Ethan, who did _not _seem so weak, was mounted on top of him, then poked his fingers at Kurt's neck, tickling him. _Tickling. Wow. _I did _not _see that coming. I slipped up and laughed as Mr. G went over and pounded on the mats, declaring Ethan as victor. He got off of Kurt and stood proudly.

"He who laughs last loses." he told him. The rest of us rose up as he was officially titled champion, beaming over victory. "I did it! It's curtains for Kurt 'The Hurt' Lochner!" The crowed obviously was cheering for his reason of being the underdog, since none of them had faith in him to begin with. The trophy was passed down to him and Mr. G spoke with him. He then travelled back to us, and the others went wild with cheering.

I, however, simply clapped with a close-lipped smile. My feelings were uneasy, but I was happy that he made it out safe. They barely noticed I was there. It was like I was a distant shadow, but a shadow that took form. Maybe a ghost, like Coach Ed.

Once I thought of him, I looked next to me to see him boiling over in anger and rage.

"What? That's it?" he seethed. "No, no, no! You've got to be kidding."

"Oh yeah. I won the trophy. Time to move on, Coach," Ethan said, dangerously smirking smugly, taking off his helmet-thing. "Deal's a deal."

"Bear-hugs? Tickling? C'mon! You took this for a joke, Spice Cake, so you can forget it. The deal's off." he said, proving his point clear by snarling, "I'm gonna be on you until the end of time."

Some part of me was betting this would happen, but I didn't prepare anything in case I had to leave town again. Dammit.

"Aw, dammit!" I swore, slapping my hands on my face.

"I'll show you what happens when you mess with me!"

"Is that supposed to be a threat?" I questioned. "You do know who you're talking to, right?" I was about to lunge at him, but then I quickly remembered: he's a ghost. I may be a vampire, but I couldn't snap his neck or penetrate him because he was _dead _already. I brewed a few nasty ways to finish him in my mind and decided to let the situation play with itself for a few more seconds.

"He's backing out of our deal!" Ethan alerted everyone else.

"What?" Benny asked. "He can't, a supernatural pact is binding in all dimensions!" I had no idea what he just sputtered out, but he had a point. Only a complete pussy would back out of something they started.

"Yeah, you can't back out!" Rory added.

"Tough tortillas! I ain't going anywhere, and you nerds can't make me!" Coach growled. Suddenly, a locker door materialized and impacted the gym's floor, and Ethan and I were maybe the only ones to see so. It regressed vibrant light. Coach looked startled - possibly the only time I saw him fearful. "Oh crud... but maybe those nerds can."

"What? What is it?" Ethan asked out of curiosity.

"I crushed a lot of nerd souls in my day, and I suppose those souls had to go somewhere. Well, behold, the Locker of Denile." He presented it with his hand. It swung open. Inside flowed out a collective of clear, animated, ropes or tentacles of some sort, maybe to resemble hands of those heartbroken nerds from back in the day. One came forward and wrapped around him, pulling on him towards the locker. "Don't just stand there, pudding faces, help me!" I stared in awe as he was dragged all the way to the opening and brought inside, vanishing in the portal of coruscating light. The locker shut itself and evaded from sight.

My attention turned to Kurt as he was recovered from laughing. "Hey, you know what?" he said, sounding like he was talking to himself. "I will _not _be beaten by a geek!" He tore his clothes and roared like a lion and ran, charging at Ethan, until Sarah managed to get him with a punch.

She looked down at him. "Update. You got beaten by a geek _and _a girl. Go get yourself a new shirt." I chuckled a little.

"Thanks, but I could've taken him." Ethan told her, awkwardly. We joined in laughter. "So, uh... about Saturday night..."

"Oh, that. I thought that if Kurt was a vampire, I'd need backup to take him down. But, we're all good now."

I whistled, feeling the slight rejection he was getting. He'd probably get the girl sooner or later, but I didn't get why he wanted to go out with a vampire. I don't get the whole vampire-human relationship, because the vampire'll be young forever and the human'll soon perish away, old and crinkly. I wouldn't look forward to watching my lover die at my lap. If I ever dated a human, maybe I'd see how it'd work out, or just turn him so we could be together forever, but the tables would be turned if I went after a supernatural being, for say, a magic-user. Immortality spells may be hard, but they exist.

"Right! Yeah. Good, good. I thought it was something like that..."

"But... if we're not catching vampires, we could go catch a movie?"

"Yeah! Cool! I should have the feeling back in my fingertips by then."

**.v.X.^.X.v.**

The following evening I spent wandering the house. I didn't feel like hunting, nor did I feel like venturing around in the sky. Unresolved feelings stirred within me, refusing to dissolve to settle. There was no hunger burning in me tonight. No thirst. No anger. No sadness. Just confusion and bewilderment at how much a rag-tag group of... vampires plus two humans... could get to me and shake me up, soften me, and make me weak. I wasn't puny, nor was I a force to be reckoned with. I had spent most of my life alone, mentally, without a thought or care about anyone... but it's as though all that experience withered into something else. I was still debating with myself on _what _it formed into, but something felt different inside me.

My lips tingled and twitched a little as I walked into the library. As if I could only imagine Jesse there, going on, obsessing over the plan. And I could faintly remember that he wasn't always so ruthless and vial.

_March • 1809_

_During Black's Church_

_"And every night, there should be a bonfire," Horus told me, enlightenment in the gaze of his eyes, "so we can celebrate what great prosperity and happiness this new land has brought us. Wouldn't that be nice, Eva?"_

_I nodded, lifting my head so I could fit my arms underneath it. Technically, it was unladylike for me to have my legs so wide open whilst laying down with my gown still on, but I wanted to be comfortable. Horus had told me such plans for unity and glee to be planned with the building of our new foundation, the church of Black, as I liked to call it, but Horus insisted on entitling it "Black's Church" to be simpler. I smiled at the thought._

_"What is wrong? Is this not what you wanted? Us together? For the rest of our lives?" Horus pondered, raising his head from the neat meadow of grassland and facing me. "Here we are. Eternity has just started."_

_"I know," I said quietly. "It _is_ what I want. You and I, our own place to call home. A place where we can be bound together with people. But... don't you want a little more? A taste of something different from time to time?" He shook his head, wondering about what I was ranting about this time. "Is it okay to say that I am scared of what the result of this new chapter may be?"_

_He chuckled softly. "We have a family here, Eva." He smiled wide. "I do not think there is anything to fear once we have family. Family is power."_

_I smiled and nodded, realizing he was right. Family was power. We knew people in this new land who we cared deeply for and who returned the favor. There was nothing to fear of this new life I started and created. As long as I had him, nothing misfortunate could fall upon us._

I shook my head and ran a finger along the dusty, untouched bookshelf. That was a long time ago.

* * *

**In case you're wondering who the hell is Horus, in the movie, it mentioned that Jesse's name back in the 1800's was Reverend Horus Black, so there you go. Hope you liked the chapter, dearies :)**

_**Kisses! ~TwistedTelepath**_


	8. A Match Made in Hell

**Discalimer: I own nothing again.**

* * *

_VII_._ A Match Made in Hell_

_S1E7: Smells Like Trouble_

A horrible scent hit me straight in the nose as I walked up the hallway, originally to ask Ethan for his English homework to cheat off of, but now I wanted to know what the hell that crap was. I walked swiftly and found him with Benny, of course, spraying of what seemed to be the dreadful source. I coughed some more and blinked to make my eyes stop from watering. Having super senses wasn't always a _good _thing.

"_What _is that and _who _thought it was a good idea to manufacture it?" I asked, covering my nose.

"This is Hormonio," answered Ethan, showing off the little bottle. "It's musk, supposed to tap into a girl's primal nature."

"You sure about that? Because it makes me what to throw up on you rather than have sex with you." I managed to fan the smell away from me and balance out myself.

Benny took bottle and sniffed it, getting what I was putting down, saying, "Well, it's definitely manly. Like, wrestling-team-laundry-bag manly."

"Um, why do you need it, anyway?"

"He's trying to ask Sarah out."

I giggled a little, but then realized they were serious. I stared at him. "Seriously?"_  
_

"Okay. Here goes. I'm just worried she'll laugh in my face."

Surprise struck me as at the same time, Benny and I said, "She probably will." I looked at him skeptically, but then looked away. It was my honest opinion, and _what _kind of person would I be if I weren't honest? Then, all I'd be is malicious, self-acclaimed, and hypocritical. Sometimes I feel like _I'm_ the genius behind the seven deadly sins.

Ethan went away, maybe discouraged, but I didn't care. Well... I wouldn't know it would feel to strike out with someone, since I've been with so many guys in the last five-hundred years, and usually _I _was the heart_breaker_, and _they_ were heart_brok__en. _

"But hey! That gives you one less thing to worry about... joking!" Benny said, trying to call after him. I rolled my eyes. "Hey, can I try to turn you on with this?" He gestured to the perfume bottle and grinned in a creepy way.

I scoffed, "You'd have a better chance at staking me than scoring a date with me."

"I'll take that as a challenge." he told me, winking.

I giggled and ran my hand down his shoulder. "We'll see." I walked off, putting my hands in my pockets.

**.v.X.^.X.v.**

Two periods came and went, and before going to my next class, I stopped to chit-chat with Sarah and Erica in the hallway. Hopefully, Sarah didn't tell Erica about my double-negative problem. The more people that knew of my "rendezvous" with Benny, the more I was in danger of being called his girlfriend again, and hell no did I want that denunciation. And telling Erica was basically announcing it to the whole school...

Walking up to them, Erica quickly sprang into action and slapped me across the face. Now if she wasn't my friend, I would've pulled her heart out, but since I was so generous, I slapped her back.

"What the hell was that for?" I demanded.

"You had a fling with Benny?" she asked loudly. I cupped my hand on her mouth and brought her to silence.

"Yes and no." I replied, shaking my head. I took my hand from her mouth. I looked at Sarah, eyeing her evilly. "You swore you wouldn't tell a _soul._" I growled at her, building rousing dark tension inside me. I was definitely pissed off. _More _than pissed off since I had trusted her for the slightest second and she decided to break that trust.

"Technically she isn't a soul," Sarah whispered, "none of us have souls."

I almost laughed at her honest joke, but chose to glare at her. "Did you at least explain the _whole _situation to her?"

"From the camera to the evil twins, yes."

I sighed, feeling a little more peace come to me, but turned back to Erica. "So why did you slap me?" I shouted.

"Because you made out with a nerd!" she accused. "Even though it was an evil nerd, it was still a nerd!" I rolled my eyes and resisted the urge to kick her. No one ever touched my face. And if they did, they ended up having sicker consequences to themselves. "And another thing! What's the deal with you and Rory?"

Now _this _was surprising news.

"Um, _what_?" I asked, putting my hand on my hip.

"You're all over him! I can barely get him to do anything for me lately, because he's busy daydreaming about you!" I jerked my head back. Okay... now I had two nerds crushing on me... I think I was having some sort of reverse Elena Gilbert issues: two guys liked me, but I didn't really like them back. But Benny and Rory were _nothing _compared to Damon and Stefan Salvatore.

"Can we continue this power-struggle conversation later... you know, in the safe haven of my house?" I requested, pulling my hands together to plead for it.

Erica scowled, but Sarah managed to bring her rage to a pause. I sighed again and fixed my hair, running my fingers through the beauty. It was like brushing silk against my cheek.

"Hey, ladies. Whaddya say?"

Speak of the devil... er, one of them. Benny came over from across the hall with Ethan, and I was silently praying that he wasn't eavesdropping on our girl talk.

"Um... hi?" I guessed, shrugging. I could feel a few more glares pointed at me from Erica, then she started to storm off. Ugh, she was acting like she was jealous we would get together. Maybe she was, maybe she wasn't I didn't have the time right now to settle that dispute when I had a million more wracking my head.

"Okay... do you ladies want to try this new Dusk perfume?" he offered, holding up the same horrid Hormonio bottle, but with a label that read 'Dusk' on it. "It's supposed to make girls smell like flowers, and... other girly stuff. Wanna try it?"

I laughed. I knew what he was doing. He wanted to see if I'd fall for him, using the same trick Ethan was gonna pull off with Sarah. I went along with the joke, nodding, taking the bottle and spraying some on my neck.

A wave of gold felt like it surpassed me, euphoria and rapture flowing all around me. The world seemed to close in and become clear on the one person I wanted most right now... Benny. Oh, how Benny looked _so _good today. I felt giggly and dizzy, but I knew what I wanted. I pushed the bottle aside to Sarah and fell into his arms, smiling. Desire washed into my feelings and all the others fazed away. I nuzzled into his chest and squeezed him tightly.

"Oh my God!" I squeaked, pressing his face between my hands. "I-I feel so..." I laughed and pressed a kiss against his lips. It felt sweet and innocent. I did so to his cheek, lacing my fingers with his and tiptoeing to get a good view of him. "There's no one that I'd rather be with than you!"

"_Whoa._" he breathed, smiling.

"Ugh! Just shut up and kiss me!" I pleaded. I held his head and smashed my lips onto his roughly this time. His were soft, like thin, small pillows. My tongue slid on his and played with it. His arms wrapped around my waist. My left leg kicked up. I pulled away, breathing hard.

"Ethan, stop paying so much attention to Eva," Sarah said, "you're going to make your girlfriend jealous."

"Girlfriend?" Ethan asked, his voice sounding cracked.

"I love all your striped shirts," I purred, running my hands all over Benny's shirt. "They just _scream_ smart."

"He is really smart."

"And that's _so_ hot!" I rubbed the back of his neck, smirking.

"And your hair! It's like the cutest hair I've seen on anyone ever!" Sarah told Ethan, hugging him. "Does your mom cut it?" She held out his arm. "I love your skinny arms!"

The bell rang and I groaned and pouted, but then a lascivious smile played cross my lips. "_I'll see you after class_." I whispered sensually. I waved and dashed to class.

**.v.X.^.X.v.**

I skipped out every class. Everything just felt so happy today! I barely remembered what happened! All I could think about in class was Benny. All my attention and affection was directed at him, and I was really mad that I couldn't see him in my classes! I really needed to switch my classes around to see him. I _needed _him! I couldn't get enough of him and his love.

I told him to meet me at my house for a movie, and it had to be _perfect. Nothing _but _perfection _for _my _Benny. I fluffed the pillows on the couch and put some DVDs on the DVR. Later, I think I'd love to take a dip with him in the pool. Maybe we'd skinny-dip! Anything sounded pretty good to me.

The wave of gold vanished from me... I felt something darker now... Anger... torture... rage... Hatred washed into me now as I growled and tossed the DVDs away. What the hell! What was I doing going out of my way, preparing this super-nice evening for him when he didn't deserve it? Or me! I was too valuable to be kept as he prize! Eva Badica does _not _let others control her; _she_ controls _others_.

I ran outside and flew to the one place I knew without a doubt that Benny would be—Ethan's house. I came the same time Sarah appeared. We looked at the two other girls who were attacking the boys.

"That's my man you've got there," I spoke up, practically spitting it out.

"And the cuter one, is mine." Sarah said.

"Thank goodness you girls are here!" Benny cried.

"No one's gonna kill him but me!" I declared, barring my fangs.

"And me." Sarah piped in.

"Over our dead bodies!" shouted one girl.

"Suit yourself." I hissed with a sick smile.

I lurched at her, grabbing her hands with my strength. She lashed out on me with her rope and managed to get it around my neck. I choked, but I took her neck, coiling my fingers around it and squeezing it tightly. She yanked the rope, and I could feel it burn and sting into my flesh. I hissed at her and took the rope, ripping it apart, ignoring the rope burn I was getting on my hands. I kicked her in the stomach, making her crash onto the porch, knocking her out. The other girl toppled on her, thrown by Sarah. I dusted my hands and we sped into the backyard, where the boys had preserved themselves in a silly, prop cage.

"Come on out, baby, I wanna go inside and make popcorn with you!" I grunted, holding the bars of the cage and shaking them. Even with my strength, I couldn't break them.

"I don't think he'll fit in the microwave." Sarah rasped.

"I'll _make_ him fit."

"The eternity cage is impregnable!" Ethan said from the other side.

"Yeah, and so is the prop... I hope!" Benny shouted.

Ethan brought out a water gun. "Don't make us use these!" I giggled and shook the bars harder. He sprayed the water on me and I shrieked, backing up, looking at the red wounds on my hands and arms, and fanning away the smoke coming from my burning skin. Holy water. I narrowed my eyes. "Sorry, sorry, sorry!"

"It's just like being in a shark tank!" Benny commented. Other angry girls swarmed the backyard and pounded on the cage, too. I kept getting hit with holy water, but I wouldn't leave until I had Benny's head on a stick. "This _is_ just like being in a shark tank! How long does shark week last?"

"Well, they loves us for about six hours. If Grandma's right, they're gonna hate us for about five more!" Ethan told him. I rolled my eyes and gaped at them, not knowing what they were talking about, then I shrugged and reached through a gap in the bars, trying to get them, but they sprayed me again, so I retreated back.

**.v.X.^.X.v.**

In five hours, I was back to my normal self, but this version of me was furiously livid at both of them, which made me hungry. I went to grab a snack, and by the dawning, I was sitting with Sarah on Benny's porch, watching the two slave over her car, waxing it. His grandmother sat in a lawn chair.

"Oh, Ethan, you missed a spot!" Sarah pointed out.

I chuckled, leaning over the porch, smiling.

"Oh, and boys, I need someone to come over and massage my bunions." Benny's grandmother called.

I cringed, but shook my now empty glass of lemonade.

"Don't look at me," Ethan said, "I have to get Eva more lemonade."

He came over and I handed it to him. "Oh, and don't be stingy on the sugar this time, 'kay, hon?" I asked, winking.

* * *

**_Kisses! ~TwistedTelepath_**


	9. Rose & Other Mysteries of Nature

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

* * *

_VIII_._ Rose & Other Mysteries of Nature_

_S1E8: Die Pod_

Tell me why at 12 a.m. there was a knock at my door. I wasn't sleeping, or anything, just getting comfortable with a bottle of champagne. I got up grunting, half-drunk, and threw myself to the door, almost falling. I opened the door to find that there was a girl with light/dark brown hair coming in curls at the bottom of her ponytail. She was tanned a little, a beautiful tone of light brown. She had plush, full lips, a small nose, and big, wide blue eyes. She was short and curvy, wearing a pair of sleek dark gray jeans, a lacy white halter top, a brown hunting jacket, and laced-up black boots with heels.

Rose.

"If anyone interrupted my late-night/pre-morning drinking, I'd be pretty pissed off," I told her, leaning against the doorway. She looked at me cynically. I put down my glass and opened my arms. "But you know you're the exception."

She squealed and jumped into my arms, giggling. I couldn't help but laugh, too. She may have seemed so serious, but she was really silly sometimes, which made her lovable. "I missed you so much!"

"I missed you too, Roza." I said, calming down my laughter and addressing her name in Russian.

She got down and pulled in a suitcase and a duffel bag from my doorstep. She wasn't _kidding_ about staying with me. I brought her upstairs to a guest room and put her bags by the closet as she sank into the lush and comfortable silk sheets I provided for her, knowing she must've had a long day, figuring that she just got here at 12 a.m. I shut the red curtains in the room and turned to her. She was swinging her arms and legs in the sheets, like she was making a snowman.

"Still keepin' it fancy, I see." she noted, smiling. I smirked. "So. How's Jesse-free life treating you?"

Rose and Jesse didn't get along well. When she met him a few years ago, she told me she didn't feel safe with him around me, informing me that my aura seemed darker than usual with his deadweight on my shoulders. It's almost as if she predicted the betrayal before it happened, and I knew she didn't have to be clairvoyant to do so. I should have listened, but you know I didn't like to take orders from others.

"It's pretty good," I told her, laying next to her in the sheets. "But lately, it's like my past wants to bite me."

"Well bite it _back_," she scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Show the past you're better than it."

"I would if I could," I bit my lip and deterred my eyes away, "but there have been other... _indiscretions_."

"What kind of _indiscretions_?" Rose asked me, making me face her.

"There's a boy. He's gotten inside my mind. He's playing with me, I know it. He's using me cunningly, entertaining himself with my struggles of power and hunger," I explained, "but he won't win. It'll only end badly for him." I realized for a split second that I was sounding like Andrey.

Rose propped herself up on one elbow, holding her face. "What if he's not?" I looked at her. "What if you're just the victim?"

"Victim of _what_?"

"Of falling in love with him. What if he's doing it innocently? It's not rocket-science, Eva. Underneath the impassable exterior, you're human. You were born human, and every human is born of humility, kindness, patience, temperance, and all that other good stuff. You're just lost on figuring out that all those virtues are coming to you."

Rose always had those moments when she could be a guidance counselor, giving words of wisdom, but I wouldn't believe anything she said unless it came true.

**.v.X.^.X.v.**

The following day at school, Rose was successfully enrolled thanks to a little glamour and charisma. She was excited about going to school, but she knew how high school wasn't a fantasy come true. She knew all about the drama and pressures, based off of every high school movie and TV show ever made.

"That's him, isn't it?" she asked, pointing.

I turned my head and saw she was talking about Benny, who was sitting in front of the principal's office with Ethan. I groaned and turned to her, staring at her hard. How the _hell _could she tell who I was talking about when I didn't even describe him?

"_Yes_." I growled. "I hate it when you get all telepathic on me."

"You don't have to be telepathic to point out a _hot _guy." Rose gloated, smiling.

"He's a geek."

"Even hotter, geeks are so in right now." She took my hand, tugging on it. "Introduce me."

I sighed and took her, strolling over to the two, taking off my sunglasses and folding my hands. "This is Rose. She's going to be staying with me for a while."

Rose smiled. Now I wanted to slap myself for even opening my door last night. I knew she was going to meddle in my so-called love life. "Nice to meet you guys." she said cooly. She stuck out her hand for Ethan to shake, and once he took it, he stiffened and his eyes became misty, perceiving a vision from her. When she took away her hand, his eyes went back to brown.

"You're the witch?" he asked.

She gasped. "Don't _ever _call me a witch. I'm an enchanter; like a person who does magic, _but_ for the _greater good_." To me, that summed up the definition of a witch. Like, Glinda the Good Witch from the Wizard of Oz. "Evie, you never told me you knew a seer!"

"For the record, I was partly drunk last night, so I barely knew what I was saying half the time." I shrugged, looking at my hand. "I'm guessing you're getting punished for setting off that ghost-alarm thing, huh?" They nodded. I laughed.

"Can I ask you girls a question?" Benny asked.

"Depends."

"Do girls, like, have way more ear wax than guys? Is it a puberty thing?"

"Do guys have fewer brain cells, or is that a Benny thing?" I asked as response, tilting my head and narrowing my eyes. "C'mon, Roza, that's enough of meet-and-greet. You're gonna be late for your first day." I looped my arm through hers and waved goodbye, walking away.

**.v.X.^.X.v.**

"And that's basically all you need to know about this school." I said, walking out of the cafeteria with Rose trailing behind, writing something down in a notepad.

"Okay, but the stay-away-from-these-people list is really long." she remarked, holding up the page with names written in blue and red ink. "And I'm pretty sure most of the people on this list are jocks and cheerleaders."

"Don't forget the mathletes. They're stalkers." I pointed out, stopping and waiting for her to catch up to me.

"Isn't _Benny _a mathlete?" she teased. "Does _he _stalk you?"

"Yes." I replied nonchalantly. "And no... not that I know of."

"You guys would be pretty good together," Rose added in, rubbing her chin. "Beneva? That sounds really cute!"

"That sounds like a noise you make when you vomit."

Just as she was about to protest, she tripped over a fallen broom hanging out of the janitor's closet, but was marvelously saved from falling flat on her face by Rory who just so happened to be passing by. The both of them couldn't stop looking at each other after he helped her up. They were just staring at each other as he held her close, his hands by her waist, her arms slung over his shoulders. They shared a smile. This day was getting better and better for her.

"I'm such a klutz." Rose breathed, looking in a haze. "I'm so sorry..."

"It's all right." Rory said.

I sighed. "Rose, Rory. Rory, Rose. You two'll get along fine." I introduced, cocking up an eyebrow. Rose looked up and shooed me away. I tossed my head back in laughter and left them alone to do whatever they wanted.

**.v.X.^.X.v.**

Later, floating in the pool alone, I was revising what happened today.

Since Rory and Rose's encounter, she had been taken with him, and the both of them were in their own Garden of Eden, completely distraught from the outside world. Rose was one to fall in love quickly. With any boy in her former school, she was automatically head-over-heels for them, going on countless dates and boasting that they'd be together forever. What I was scared of was that Rory would take that literally and turn her into a vampire, but I doubted that she would be willing to put her soul up for sale.

A girl, whose name had slipped my mind, had been stalking around the school, blasting music from her iPod so loud that every time I passed by, my hearing went static and my head throbbed. She looked like she was in a trance.

I did I backstroke when my stomach vibrated. I looked down at my black bikini, which I looked _great_ in, and took up my phone to see that Ethan was calling me. I held it to my ear and swam to the edge of the pool, supporting my elbows on the concrete.

"Hey, Ethan." I said, pulling my hair back slickly.

"_Hey,_" he said. "_Do you mind coming over my house? There's a problem._"

"Dammit, and I thought I was spending my afternoon basking in the sun and picking roses from my garden," I lifted myself out of the pool, water dripping off of me, the suit feeling heavy on me. "All right, I'll be there after I–"

"_Please, Eva, it's urgent!_"

I looked back down at my swimsuit. I was going to change, but I guess since he wanted me there so _urgently,_ I could just tie my hair up and put on some sneakers. I walked into the house and wrapped my towel around my waist, tightening it. "Okay. Two minutes, tops."

"_Great._"

**.v.X.^.X.v.**

"I had a dream like this once..." Benny said, looking at me as I walked into Ethan's room. Of course I wasn't seriously coming in only a bikini and sneakers... I had on khaki shorts and a half-open hoodie, too. There's a difference between being half-naked in a bikini and being half-naked in a bikini with a hoodie on top of it. "And it was _just as _hot."

"Don't get used to it unless there are any other urgent emergencies," I teased, shrugging. "So, what _is _so urgent about this emergency?"

"Okay, check this out," Ethan said, seating himself at his desktop. "A tree in town just got cut down a few weeks ago."

"It's right next to the school," added Benny.

"Yeah, looks like the tree was the site of old rituals."

"So this tree soaks up magic over the years," Sarah said, "gets knocked down, and what? Wants _revenge_?"

I actually heard of such a thing. I knew a coven of witches that used to practiced there, a few hundred years ago, until Jesse ran them out of town behind my back. It pissed me off actually. I genuinely wanted to learn more about witchcraft, even though I could never use it. Magic was an interesting gift in the first place, and came in all types of forms and prices - dark and light. Instead of mentioning what happened, I said, "Well, if someone cut me down with a power-saw, they'd definitely hear about it."

"So, what does this mean for what's happening at school?"

"Well, like Principal Hicks said, to kill the weeds, we need to cut the roots." Ethan recalled, sounding pretty wise to me.

"Time to do some gardening," Benny spoke up, standing up. "Let's whack some weeds-"

"Really? Again?"

He shrugged, saying, "It's all I got."

**.v.X.^.X.v.**

The ride from the house to the school was filled with awkward silence on my part, since, you know, I was partly-naked, but I got to sit up front, which was cool... okay, maybe I just made it more awkward than it needed to be, but I'm sure it wasn't _that _bad.

Once we were in front of the school, I tried to text Rose to apologize for my absence and see how she was doing, but her phone was disconnected. Or maybe she let her battery run dry. Or maybe she just didn't want me to disrupt her fun time with Rory. I ignored that and put my hands in my pockets, joining the others by the tree, or what was left with it.

"Well, there it is... or was." Sarah said, echoing my thoughts.

"That is one freaky stub. Do you think a tree could keep a grudge?" Benny asked, maybe out of either stupidity or curiosity.

"Why?" I questioned, unloosing my hair so it came down in damp waves down my back.

"I carved my name into it." I rolled my eyes. "Benny loves Eva." I looked up at him, alarmed, "then Beth... Kylie... Della... Erica."

"_What_?" I was more confused than mad. How could one boy have a crush on so many girls? Well, Alek was the same, but still. It was frightening to me.

"... Catwoman."

I crossed my arms and tried to convert the subject. "So, what do we do?"

"Well, looks like the only way to stop it is to cut roots." Ethan commended.

"Sure, it leads to the back of the school." Benny said as we followed the path of dark, hardened roots.

"This tree wasn't ready to die," Sarah remarked.

I kicked a root softly with the tip of my sneaker. I swore it moved slightly, so I directed myself away from the root cautiously. We made our way to the back of the school, where the power box was. The thing was crowded with roots and branches.

"Looks like we've found the mother root." Ethan said.

"You think?"

"School's internet cables run through here. These crazy roots have grown right into them."

"Does this mean more lawn work?" Benny asked, making another attempt at a lame joke.

"Let's get this thing open." He tried to pry the box open, but it wasn't working out. The roots looked way too strong.

"Looks like the tree's holding it shut." I pointed out, gesticulating to the box and the roots. It seemed as if the tree wanted to prevent anyone from standing in its way for revenge... smart.

"That tree is strong." He surrended in trying to open it. "Cutting the roots should kill it, then we can save vegetable girl." I ignored all the questions in my mind about who 'vegetable girl' was and just tried to dwell on the task ahead. In retrospect, the idea of a malignant tree hell-bent on destorying or taking over the human race was irrelevant.

"Yeah! It's gardening time!" I grimaced at Benny's joke. They were getting lamer by the second. Usually, I'd laugh at them, but these were just _pathetic_.

"Is that the best you can do?" I asked, regarding my thoughts.

"Pretty much."

Gardening tools were distributed, but I decided to just use my bare hands, since it'd be the honorable way to go down... but in case that didn't work out, I had a rake... like _that_ would do any damage.

**.v.X.^.X.v.**

For some reason in particular, the school's hallways were luminous with green. I think find green a threatening color, maybe like gray or red, but okay. It was the tree's decision to light the halls with a happy color. A scream sounded off.

"Whoa," Ethan breathed, his gaze following the branch-thing to the computer lab.

"Where's Benny?" I asked, my eyes narrowed in confusion. I heard footsteps behind me. I snapped around and saw him strolling up to us, an ax on his shoulder. "What the hell?" I said slowly, smiling because he looked funny.

"Where did you get that?" Ethan cross-examined along with me, but I think he was a little jealous. I'd never understand geek-envy.

"Janitor's closet. Always upgrade before a boss level." he answered.

"Aw, that's cute. You think the ax'll help you." I said before leading the way.

"Not all of us are professional vigilantes." he muttered.

I whipped around. "What?"

"What?" he repeated. I snorted, shaking my head. A root burst out of locker door and I ripped it out, tossing it to the side. A thorn went in my finger, but it was nothing. We had to battle a few of these random roots in order to make it to the computer lab, but it was worth it.

Until I saw that the damn tree had taken possession over Rory, having him seated inside a barricade made of branches, black root-designs on his face and his eyes black. I would say 'like my soul,' but I wasn't going to take this opportunity to make lame jokes like some people. But how the hell does a _tree_ do that? It's a tree. It may be absorbed with demonic energy or whatever, but still! There's not a horror movie I know of where a tree takes over a human host. Maybe rapes a human host, but never takes over a human host. I lingered cautiously by the door, my grip tightening around the rake.

"I will not be destroyed by poison nor blade! I will build a new forest, fertilized by human souls!" the tree said in a dark voice. This was seeming more as a parody than a real-life situation.

"We are dealing with one angry tree now! And it's upgraded its hardware... with Rory!" Ethan said.

I stomped on a branch coming for me and broke the rake in half, using the end with the splinters to stab the stems or whatever. I wasn't a nature person anyway.

"Ew!" Benny sneered.

"This thing is mostly cable and computers, now, we can't just spray it with weed-killer!" I commented, fending the roots off.

"No, but hitting things works with mostly anything!"

"Wait! If it's half-tree and half-computer, maybe a virus can infect the system and bring this thing down!" Ethan brought out his laptop and got to work. I sighed and stole Benny's ax when he wasn't looking, now regretting teasing him earlier.

"Hey!" he shouted.

"Even a professional vigilante needs assistance!" I sang, swinging the ax and breaking the root off my ankle successfully.

"Where do you get a computer virus?" he asked Ethan.

"You got into a computer system before, right? Just cover me!" he ordered.

"Cover you with _what_?"

"Just keep killing and don't get killed, okay? Simple enough?" I nodded, sort of confused by the way he put it, but the message was well-received. We took turns cutting roots with the ax, even though it was mostly me.

"This is what I call computer-hacking!" Benny exclaimed.

"Okay, that joke was decent." I admitted, rolling my eyes.

"Parasites!" the tree scowled.

"Don't worry, you'll be seeing them in a minute when I'm finished with you!" I threatened, walking towards it. A vine tied itself around my legs and dragged me down, making me drop the ax. I tried kicking, but the strength of the vine only increased and I only got more and more flustered and pissed off. "Don't just stand there, help me!" I shouted, holding onto the legs of the chair nearby.

"Use the ax!" Sarah pointed out.

"Oh, right!" Benny picked up the ax and severed the roots around my legs. He helped me up.

"Thanks," I said.

"Hey, tree-boy! Get ready to get nickrolled!" Ethan warned, still on his computer. I wonder what kind of virus could fend off an evil techno tree. He tapped a key on the board and a horendous video of a wannabe Justin Bieber singing a crappy song. The tree yelped out in defeat as all the computer screens had on the video. Suddenly everything went black and the power was out, so assumably, the tree had left the building.

"Hey, I got the..." Rose stepped in the room, her face swelled with confusion. "What happened here?"

* * *

**Boo, sucky ending, but I got bored. :/ And bored writing is crappy writing. Soo, my introduction of Rose. Who thinks she's cool? I think she's worth an appearance because she's a main part of my finale and other shit I have planned, plus she's cute :3**

_**Kisses! ~TwistedTelepath**_


	10. A Wolf in Geek's Clothing

**Disclaimer: I have no utter rights to MBaV, however, I own my OCs.**

* * *

_IX. A Wolf in Geek's Clothing_

_S1E9: Blue_ _Moon_

The grungy stench of sweat and garbage hit me once I walked past dimwitted yet praised jock David Stachowski, aka my ex-boyfriend. He gave me a glare, making me shoot him a look.

You know what's funny? I never knew what I saw in him.

_October • 2009_

_Whitechapel High_

_I pounded on my locker, loosing all my patience with the lock. I hated how I couldn't get the hang of it. It's been a month. You'd think I'd be able to crack the code to a stupid locker when I've cracked people's skulls! _

_My mouth twitched into a frown whilst people passing by giggled. Jesse would kill me if I was late for drama club. It may have sounded silly, but we were supposed to be training newborns, and those newborns needed all the help they could get. They were all about the kill, kill, kill but never the think, think, think. You had to be crafty in this town if you wanted to make a decent vampire life._

_"Need some help with that, beautiful?"_

_My frown turned into a smile when a tall boy with scruffy brown hair, dark eyes, and a freshly shaved face came up to me. His tanned skin gave off that he spent a lot of time in the sun, so he couldn't have been a vampire. His perfect curves under his shirt told me that he was an athlete, or maybe it was the obvious Whitechapel High Devils letterman jacket. He had a football tucked under his armpit._

_"Uh, yeah. It won't budge." I said sweetly, sounding a little helpless._

_"All right, I gotcha." His veins popped out once his hands passed on the locker door. With his strength, he opened the door with a few knocks of his fists and stepped back to let me out my books. Well that was very nice. "Gotta love a girl into basketball."_

_I looked down at the Raptors sticker on my notebook. I don't know why I cheer on the Raptors when they suck. "Can you believe I've never been to a game?"_

_"No way! Well, I hear there's a game this weekend. Mind if I take you?" He smiled, waiting for a response. __I nodded, laughing. If this was his way of enticing me into a date with him, it was silly... but hey. Why not? "Stachowski. David Stachowski."_

_"Badica. Eva Badica." I said, playing along._

What happened between then and now is all but a lot of drama. He really let himself go.

I walked further up where Ethan and Benny stood near the curb, practically gleaming with enlightenment... or at least Benny was anyway.

"Our street cred just went through the roof!" he exclaimed.

"Why would a guy like him want to friend-up with us?" Ethan asked.

"Ethan, don't look a gift jock in the mouth. In fact, don't make eye-contact at all!" I rolled my eyes, since I had no idea of what he was talking about. Half of the time, I barely knew what he was talking about.

"I think he just wants some old-fashioned revenge." I murmured, pushing the braid of my hair back.

"What? _Why_? Did you bite his girlfriend or something?" Ethan asked, snickering.

"I _was_ his girlfriend," I informed him to their surprise, "and we had a _very_ bad breakup."

"_You_ went out with _him_?" Benny asked, sounding offended. "And you won't go out with me? I smell ten times better than him!"

"I was a naive freshman. I didn't have a type yet. And you, my dear Benny, are not my type." I admitted, rubbing his shoulder in comfort.

"Oh, but I am. I'm every girl's type!" he insisted. A girl passed by us. He smiled at me. "Watch." He caught up to her. "Hey, wanna go out? I've got the David Stachowski seal of approval!" I watched, rolling my eyes.

"Drop dead." she grumbled, going straight past him.

"Ha!" I said.

"But hey! She spoke to me, that never happened pre-headlock!" he said back to me. He slung his arm around my shoulders. I left them there this time, because I felt too tired to slap them off. He went warm, anyway. "Hey, you're really cold."

"_You_ try being _undead_ for five centuries."

"There's something about that guy," Ethan said, sort of in thought as he looked off in another direction. David growled at some kids then barked at them, leaving them puzzled.

"Other than the fact that's he's stupid?" I offered up.

"And popular? And _awesome_?" Benny asked, not going along the tone I was putting out. He was itching behind his ear and I gasped when he pulled out something black and buzzing. A flea. "Is that a flea? Tell me I don't have fleas."

I took his arm from around me, laughing nervously.

"That's a flea." Ethan said.

"And... I'm _gone_." I told them, walking away.

**.v.X.^.X.v.**

The next couple of days were sort of quaint. Lately, Rose either was studying or studying with Rory, or maybe avoiding me because she wanted to hang out with him, but I didn't care. As long as she was self-involved with her love life, she wouldn't dare touch mine. And I liked mine the way it was: boyfriend-free. I mean, what was the big deal with having a boyfriend anyway?

Without warning, Sarah and Ethan decided to sit across from me in the lounge, _still _talking about David.

"So, where's your new jock BFF?" Sarah asked him. He laughed, like a mocking laugh. "I saw you guys with David."

"This whole thing's weird," Ethan said. "It's like the lions are hanging out with the zebras."

I stashed my book in my bag and crossed my legs. "Maybe it's the new status quo." I guessed, shrugged and putting my arm on the back of my chair. I honestly didn't give two craps about their David problems, as long as he was out of my hair... Seriously, I didn't want fleas, too.

"Who's got two thumbs, three free candy bars, and is best buds with David Stachowski," Now Benny had decided to ambush me, sitting next to me. "That's right, this guy!" he answered happily.

"I, uh, see what you mean." Sarah said, pointing at him. Ironically enough he was wearing stripes.

"You _actually like _hanging out with David?" I asked him out of doubt.

"Yeah, totally!" he told me. "I don't know _why _you broke up with him!"

"I don't!" Ethan argued. "It's like he's inserted himself into my life." He went on to tell of how David suddenly appeared at his house one night and ate out of his fridge.

"So, he eats your food, no need to break up a good bromance." Sarah taunted, pinching his cheek.

"There's more. The guy howls!"

"Woo! Free candy bars!" I snapped my head by the vending machine, where David stood, taking up candy bars in his hands. He howled. I shook my head.

"A lot of dudes howl, it's a jock-animal thing!" Benny said, getting worked up.

"I can't be the only one to notice how hairy he is." Ethan countered. He then told us about his encounter with David in the boys' locker room, and then I told him there's a fine line between shareable information and information that just needs to be kept to himself.

"So, he's really hair. A lot of guys are hairy, it's a... hairy guy thing!"

"It's basic math. Howling, plus hair, plus this town, equals–"

"Awesome." Benny finished.

"Dick." I said.

"Werewolf." Ethan summed up, correcting us.

"Werewolf..." I repeated, nodding dumbly, not completely believing it. If my ex-boyfriend was a werewolf, don't you think he wouldn't been dead by now? Vampires can automatically detect an enemy's presence by sniffing them out. Unless I was caught up in _pursuing_ him instead of _detecting_ him...

"Ethan, not everything is supernatural. You're obsessed." Sarah said.

"Yeah! Dude just started hanging out with us 'cause he realized how cool we are." Benny added, convinced by what he said. I giggled, clapping my hands by my mouth. "Watch." He strode over to two girls hanging out by the vending machine. "Ladies." he simpered. I watched closely and laughed harder once he got beat up with a bag of cheese puffs, one up his nose and a coat of cheese dust on his hair. He sat back down. "Dude's a werewolf."

"Okay, so we prove David's a werewolf, then figure out what he wants." Ethan aid, desisting the subject.

"He's _not_ a _werewolf_!" I spoke up, holding my hands up then slapping my hands on my thighs.

"Yeah, don't you think Batgirl would've found that out before all of us and took care of it?" Sarah agreed. "Besides, I have better things to do than stalk back-shavers." She got up.

"What do you have that's so important?" queried Benny as she was halfway out the room.

"Soccer tryouts!" she replied, turning to answer then facing forward.

I stared after her. No way was she bloody serious.

"I think she was serious." Ethan said, like he could read my mind.

"Oh, well, in that case, I'm sure she'll be _fine_!" his best friend continued, sounding sort of sarcastic. He turned to me, smirking. "Now... Let's talk, Eva."

I stared at him quizzically, but then got a clue. He was still on me and David, and how he wanted so much to go on a date with me. I smiled back. "Okay, how about this. You and me, tomorrow night, movie at my house."

He stuttered, choking out words I couldn't understand, laughing in between. He looked over at Ethan. "Did-did you hear that?"

Ethan shook his head, dumbfounded. "Yeah. I think she just asked you out, dude."

I nodded, folding my arms. "Yeah, call it that. What the hell. I'm not busy anyway. Don't worry, I'll make sure I eat something before. So. Decline?"

Benny calmed himself down and cleared his throat, giving me a Jakeward stare. He nodded. "Sure. Cool. _Whatever_." he answered, his voice cracking.

I giggled and got up. "Meet me there at seven. Wear something cute." I advised, popping his collar and patting his cheek. The bell rang and I got up to get to class.

**.v.X.^.X.v.**

_January • 2010_

_Main Street - Whitechapel_

_Something cold pricked my upper chest. David's warm breath breezed by my neck, tickling me. I giggled whimsically, biting my lip patiently. His fingers pressed softly on my skin, running down my bare shoulders and going down my arms, then his hands took my hands, lacing his fingers between mine._

_"Open your eyes, then look down." he told me._

_I opened my eyes and did as he told me. A gold-chained necklace hung around my neck, a silver crescent moon charm hanging from a gold loop. It sparkled in the light of the dim night. I blushed. No one had ever did something like this for me. I smiled in appreciation, trying not to look too thankful. I didn't want a lion-lamb situation. If it got to that, I wanted to be the lion._

_"David, it's beautiful." I remarked, taking up the moon with my thumb and index finger._

_"I love you, Eva." he said precipitously. Just as I was about to say some thing in return, his eyes locked on the sky, upon the moon, which was coming fully, just with a few foggy clouds in the way. He held his head, groaning out in pain._

_"David, what's wrong?" I demanded, holding his wrist. "What's happening?"_

_"You shouldn't be out here. You shouldn't have come out with me tonight!" he growled. He grunted and started to take off, but I swooped in front of him. "Get out of the way!"_

_"Not until you tell me what's wrong!"_

_He growled, glancing up at me with piercing gold eyes. His teeth were suddenly sharp canines and his nails had darkened into claws as prominent as razors. Between his eyebrows tensed up. I stood breathlessly._

_"Eva, watch out!"_

_Jesse came out of the blue and jumped in front of me in defense. His eyes burned that immaculate blue and his fangs dropped down, making him look ten times more deadly._

_"Jesse, what are you _doing_ here?" I asked, slightly angry that he followed me._

_"He's a wolf." he explained, glaring at David. "He was this close to eating you! I warned you!" David growled huskily, but got down on all fours, then cried out. His limbs cracked and shaped in different directions. They twisted and his skin became hairy in fur. He had turned into some sort of humanoid wolf._

_I prevented myself from shrieking, but vamped out and hissed at him. David advanced on us, coming for us slowly for intimidation._

_Jesse opened his fist and held a projecting needle. "I got this from Rose. This'll stabilize him, but I'm not sure if it'll kill him or–"_

_"Just do it!" I screamed._

_Jesse pounced on top of David, but David put up a fight. He clawed and tried to bite Jesse, but he was swift and vigorous. He stabbed him and drugged him with the liquid from the needle, making David become paralyzed. He got up and looked at the wolf, which lied still, unmoving._

_"Wow. That's lame." I commented, raising my eyebrows._

_"Let's get out of here before he wakes up." Jesse said. He flew up and I followed him._

"You," someone growled. I turned my head from my math book to an angry David. I shut it and began to run, but he sped past me, pushing me in front of a locker. I groaned and peered up at him from the floor. He didn't look that cute from a year ago when I met him. This time he had a mess of dark hair on his chin and sideburns.

"Me." I said, shrugging.

"You're messing up my whole plan!"

"What plan? You know if I were to interfere with a plan, I would've known what plan I'm disrupting, dumbass." I told him, off-handedly.

"You're screwing up my chances with Ethan!" he said, quietly.

I furrowed my brow. "Um... did you... _convert_?"

He smacked a hand on his forehead, saying, "No! For the cure. Using his clairvoyance, I can finally track down where it is." I nodded, scoffing. "I know you want it."

I laughed. "Why would I want the cure? I'm perfectly happy being old, vampire me." I told him, playing with the bracelet around my wrist. "What are you doing with the cure, anyway? It cures curses, not hopeless family genes."

"Yeah, well, thanks to your brother, I have another wolfy curse on my hands, so." The bell rung again. "Gotta head to football practice. Later." He walked away and howled, making me roll my eyes again.

Yep. He was a werewolf, I remember now. All that "proclaimed love" got in the way that I forgot the obvious fact. But I didn't care if he got the cure, as long as he left me out of it.

**.v.X.^.X.v.**

Rose was waiting on the couch when I got home late. She was curled up in a wool blanket, reading out of her heavy-as-hell grimoire, speeding through the dusty, yellow pages as she looked up at me. I waved and went over to the fridge.

"Hey." she said, smiling warmly. "You gonna go to that party later?"

"What party?" I asked, opening the four bottom drawers. One drawer for one blood type. I went in the AB drawer without looking and shut the others, pulling out the fat, mellow bag of blood, carefully setting it on the marble counter.

I went to go fetch a glass when Rose said, "At Ethan's house."

I popped off the cap of the bag with my teeth and poured the liquid into my glass, staring at her. "Ethan's house?" She nodded. "Ethan _Morgan_? The one that we know?" She nodded again. "But... he's not cool enough to throw a party!"

"Which is why I suggest we go."

"Or is it that fifty-fifty chance that Rory'll be there, too?" I guessed, smirking, disposing of the empty blood bag into the trash and wiggling myself next to her on the couch. "And you two have gotten rather close, I presume?"

She nodded, but this time, she was more than delighted to. "He's _really _nice. But, you know, in a friendly way. No... boy... friend... and..." I raised my eyebrows pointedly, leaning in closer to her. "Eva, not like that!"

I giggled. "_What_? Like what?"

Rose sighed and hit me on my shoulder as I was sipping my drink. "Just go put on something presentable for a party, dummy."

I stuck out my blood-soaked tounge and took my drink upstairs to my bedroom, then decided to raid my closet. I knew it was just some last-minute party at a geek's house, but I wanted to look nice.

**.v.X.^.X.v.**_  
_

A few hours passed by and taking Rose's opinion, I looked nice. I had on a lacy, ruffled white skirt, a short-sleeved black crop top with a sweetheart neckline, black ankle boots with gold zippers, and my hair was in loose waves. A gold chain was pressing against my neck as a choker, and three matching bracelets were on my wrist to make everything pass together perfectly.

Whilst I was ready to go, Rose was taking her time and she said she'd met me there. I shrugged when she said this and headed out the door, flying rapidly to my destination and landing behind a tree. I dusted down myself and walked promptly into the house.

"Eva, thank God!" someone exasperated. Benny was soon behind me, panting on my neck. I drew back and turned to look at him, trying to be patient for him to finish what he hand to say so he would get off of me. "You need to help me."

"Well I can't help you get into better shape, if that's what you're pushing toward," I remarked snakily, rolling my eyes.

"No! Just come with me." He grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the opened door, which was held open by Jane, Ethan's younger sister as I remember. "Where's Ethan– hey! Ethan's having a party and didn't invite me? You dog!" He professed, looking and fingering the ceiling, then leaving me, jotting up the stairs.

I stood by the stairs, then ascended up them, following Benny's trail to Ethan's bedroom, where he was strapped tightly to his bed with other sheets or maybe rope, looking tarnished while he was almost completely covered in hair. Benny had a book with a striking similarity to Rose's grimoire.

I stalked carefully into the room and watched him cast a spell over Ethan, making him cry out wearily. It reminded me of David's transformation, just without the twisting of limbs and teething of fangs.

As the violet light vanished from the palm of Benny's stretched hand, he sighed of ease and closed his book. Ethan angled his head to look down at his chest and body.

"I'm still hairy!" he complained.

"Okay, dude, chill. You're cured. Trust me, the hair will fall out." He knelt to untie the knots in the sheets, but I came I'm front of him and ripped them. He looked at me like he was saying 'What's wrong with you?' but I just shrugged and went forth with tearing the sheets off Ethan. He should've been grateful that I was helping instead of moping. "Now, c'mon. We gotta go down to the party and find the real werewolf."

"What? Who's having a party?" Ethan asked as we helped him off the bed.

"You are, man, c'mon."

**.v.X.^.X.v.**

_January • 2010_

_Whitechapel High_

_Walking up the school's pathway with Jesse, directly after the night we abandoned David on the cold streets of town didn't seem to affect me the way I thought it would. I thought I would be hurt or relentless, but really it phased right through me. The only person I had to look out for and care for was Jesse, since he was sired to me, but that was it. No boyfriend could penetrate what bond I had with him._

_Someone growled, making my head turn to the back of me. David stood, hands tightly clenched and teeth barred, narrowing a glare at me. He marched up to us, slamming his hands on my shoulders and rushing me into a brick wall of the school's foundation. I cried out, but quickly retrieved myself, touching the side of my head. Warm and thick red blood was slicked across my fingers, and if I was human, I would've been in a concussion._

_"What the hell!" I shouted, growing angry and shoving him away from me. "Don't you _ever_ do that to me again!"_

_"We're done!" David declared, not really as stunning as how he had the balls to shove me against the school. "You're a vampire!" he said more quietly. He eyed Jesse. "You're a vampire, too! Both of you tried to kill me!"_

_"For the record, you tried to kill us first." Jess pointed out, smiling._

_David growled again and took me by my collar and dragged me to a point of sunlight, away from a crowd. He whipped off my hood. The sun came in contact with my skin, sending billions of sizzles and burns throughout my body. I held back from screaming, but the pain was antagonizing. Jesse took me away from David and brought me to the shadows behind the school to recover. I would've fought back if I wasn't so weak from the lack of blood in my system._

_Jesse hissed at David and began to engage into a fight, but I came to break it up. I didn't know what game David was playing at, but he needed to stop it. I pulled him closely and stared into his eyes._

_"You're going to walk away and never talk to me again. Don't talk about what happened last night to anyone. Keep your distance, or next time, _you'll_ be the one crying out for mercy." I soothed, getting a little rougher on my last few words, but caught myself. Compelling him was one method I could use to solve this problem before someone ended up with holy water or wolfsbane down their throat._

_David nodded mindlessly and carried off. I sighed, holding my head, which was now healed, but just in a lot of pain._

_"You did the right thing," Jesse told me, holding my shoulder. "Even though it was the wrong choice in the first place..."_

_I rolled my eyes and blew some dark hair from my face. "Let's just get to that meeting."_

**.v.X.^.X.v.**

"Don't hurt me, I just wanna make you famous, and me rich!" Benny said, dangerously aiming his camera at the hairy and odd-looking creature in front of us.

I don't know what event lead to another, but before I knew it, we lost Ethan in the crowd of people downstairs, and a whole set of clatter and racket came from the basement, and here we were. Benny was trying to reason with the thing, get it on video, then publish it to get the credit, while I was trying to tame it to kill it. Oh, and Erica was there, trying to defend the thing, thinking she can fulfill one of her Dusker fantasies with it.

"_Use him like a chew toy_," she murmured to the thing, standing behind it.

"I thought we were friends!"

The thing growled at me. I hissed at it and used the board of wood in my hands to hit it. It was about to jump up me, but, for once, thank goodness Sarah plunged in, catching it by surprise. Benny retreated to the stairs and with the two of us, we prevented the creature from going upstairs.

"Hey, what's happening?" Rory asked, coming from upstairs. The beast whirled around to growl at him fiercely. The vampire screamed like a little girl and ducked behind Benny. Like that would help him in anyway.

While the beast was distracted, I looked at Sarah quickly. She gripped tighter to a small bottle in her hand. It must've been the cure David was blaming me for keeping to myself earlier.

_Get behind him, _she mouthed to me. I quickly reacted as she brought down the wolf on its back. I took both its hind legs into my grasp, and tried not to break them as its tail whipped back and forth in my face. I spit out strands of hair as I watched Sarah hustle the cure down the beast's throat, exclaiming, "Bad dog!"

She got off of it as it toppled down, and I removed myself from behind it.

"No!" whined Erica, devastated. "What did you do to him?"

"I cured him?" Sarah answered, sounding insecure whether she did so or not.

"How would you like it if I went around curing all of your boyfriends?" she demanded. Looking back down at the beast, it had shifted back into its human form... it's _naked_ human form... which _wasn't_ David, which was what I suspecting, since Jesse had used Rose's simulator on him... it was Ethan. My eyes shut and I groaned. I would have to burn them with toxins next. "Ethan? Really? Ew!" I clasped my hands on my ears now.

I backed up into the room, falling back, but grateful that I was at least two feet away from that spectacle. I hoped there was a way I could compel myself to forget what I saw, though I had a brother, that was a _long _time ago, so I barely remember if I ever saw him naked.

I opened my left eye to see that the naked boy was successfully covered in a blanket, and the urge to throw-up died down. I took my hands away from my ears and caught my breath, relieved. Now I was confused. Full moon, plus David, equaled transformation... but there wasn't another creature in sight. But there was a large, fuzzy dog in the corner, tied up with chains. And damn, Erica was pissed.

"_That's _David?" Erica questioned. "Ugh, that is _so _lame."

"Oh..." I said, realizing that Rose's remedy didn't undo the curse, it just made him less harmful to others. "_That's _David..." I started laughing as I walked up to it. I pinched its cheek. "Look who's the bitch now." I teased.

Benny shone his camera in dissapointment towards David. "Great. Just what the Internet needs. A cute animal video..."

David barked. I smirked, taking his ears and playing with them. "For the record, you're way less annoying this way."

**.v.X.^.X.v.**

The following day, God, or whoever was up there tormenting me, decided to play a cruel trick on me and let me come up to Sarah's locker the same time as David did, paired with Benny. The both of them were wearing matching Devils' jackets. I was surprised that David hadn't ditched him, since he served no purpose to him now.

I sighed, looking away, wrapping the cloth of my scarf around my fist.

"Speak of the devil," Sarah said, indicating towards David, but her eyes were on me.

"Oh sweetheart, I've been called worse." I told her, lifting my bag strap higher on my shoulder. "Was he helping you shave your back, furball?" I asked David.

"Ha, no," Benny said, speaking for him. "He's teaching me everything he knows about chicks."

"It's true. Not every guy can pick up a girl as beautiful as you, Eva." David said, stepping dangerously closer to me. He smiled.

"_What_?" I asked quickly, backing up as the others laughed.

"Look, you were willing to help give up the cure for me, so I owe you an apology." I flinched as his hand touched my arm. "So, you wanna catch up over a movie or something?"

I panicked. He hadn't talked to me in over a year, and now he was asking me out all over again. He was waiting for an answer. I looked around for any helpful suggestions when Sarah handed me a tennis ball from her locker. I nodded graciously, took it, and said, "Fetch!", throwing it across the hall. David's eyes followed it and he leapt for it, going for it.

"I had plans tonight, anyway!" I called out. I shrugged and turned to Benny. "See you at seven."

"Wait, you guys are really going on a _date_?" Sarah asked out of curiosity. "For real?"

I nodded. "Yup! Could be fun." I clapped my hands and walked by him. "_By the way, you look _sexy_ in a letterman jacket, big boy._" I whispered. I went on about my business.

**.v.X.^.X.v.**

"I'm surprised at you, Evie," Rose cracked, looking in the mirror of her room, curling her hair. "I thought it would be one huge trap, but I guess I was wrong. You really _do _have a thing for Benny."

I didn't bother to roll my eyes, as long as I was listening to Blondie, I couldn't react so ignorantly. I rubbed my hands together and passed the lotion all up my leg, nodding to _Call Me. _It smelt of sweet strawberries, vanilla, and a hint of peaches. I came off Rose's bed and rolled down my pants leg, then zipped up my jeans. I actually felt comfortable in these and a plain, loose purple T-shirt. "I said I admired his relationship with his friends, I never said anything about having a thing for him, genius."

Truth be told, I actually _did _felt something behind my black heart for Benny, but I wouldn't dare admit it to anyone up close. I was still struggling with myself about this sudden realization. I was vexed that I let a human penetrate my so-called "impassable exterior" and make me feel all exposed and humane. I was battling myself in a war that the other side would triumph dominantly. That part was weak. That part was mad for Benny. That part went along with everything everyone said and did, and that side was the side I abandoned five-hundred sixty-nine years ago. But the side I was now, the sinful, malevolent, and darker side chose to repel this moral side, and fill my mind with wicked thoughts and immorality.

So, to sum it up, _maybe _I had a thing for Benny.

But there was no way he'd let things go beyond our playful lion-lamb relationship, since I had many bad qualities for his dream girlfriend. Example? Not most guys hope for a _serial killer_ girlfriend, or a girlfriend who has such poor respect for human life.

"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll be fine." Rose allayed, coming up to me and massaging my shoulders.

I chuckled. "What am I worried about? It's just a date."

"'It was just a date.' That's exactly what you're gonna be telling your children when they ask you how you fell in love with him." Rose teased, turning and applying eyeliner in her mirror.

"I can't have kids, dumbass."

"Remember, I hail from a powerful bloodline," she reminded, "I'm sure I can figure out a spell to get the Benny-Eva train rolling." She pointed her fingers past her.

"How about we get the Benny-Eva train rolling this-a-way." I pointed out, sticking my thumbs back to me.

The doorbell rang from downstairs, and Rose gasped happily, getting excited. "Ooh, he's here! I'll be going now." She picked up a bag from her chair and held her grimoire under her arm. "I met someone in town a couple days ago, and I _really _want to practice magic with her, since you're all vampirey. Bye!" She cleared the room, going out into the hallway.

"Don't get your hopes up, it can still be the mailman!" I called, lifting my hair from under my shirt and going downstairs.

Rose may have been gone, but in her place, in the living room, with scrawny arms coming out of a green and black striped hoodie, was Benny. I swore under my breath and came down the stairs slowly.

"Hi," we said at the same time, awkwardly, waving. We laughed, and I actually meant it. Here went nothing.

* * *

_**Kisses! ~TwistedTelepath**_


	11. Because of the Night

**A/N: GAH! I totally forgot yesterday was Thursday, guys! Dx Please pardon my fault.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own MBaV, but I have every right to Rose and Eva.**

* * *

X._ Because of the Night_

_S1E10: Doug the Vampire Hunter_

"Can't we have this intervention in the morning?" I asked, squinting in the semi-twilight.

The dim light in my bedroom switched on, and Rose, Sarah, and Erica all stood in the room, cross-armed. Rose looked more hyper than usual, Sarah looked serious, and Erica looked bored. I yawned and curled up in my bed, grasping onto my legs. I knew vampires didn't need sleep, but something about a long day of school just loved to put me to sleep.

"Nope!" perked up Rose, trotting over to me and dashing my sheets off me. She grabbed my arm, making me plop off my bed and onto the hardwood flooring. "C'mon, Eva, get up! There's a blood bag downstairs with your name on it."

My eyes widened and I jumped up, swiping out of the room and descending the stairs into the living room. In the kitchen, I found a bag on the table all alone. I went for it, grappling it in my hands carefully and sank my teeth into it, sucking out some of the contents. I sat on the couch and waited for all three of them to sit across from me as I continued drinking.

"I have called all of you here for a reason," Rose announced, crossing her legs. "You see, Eva has guy problems–"

"_That's_ why we're here?" Erica interrupted giving her a dead look. "You lured me here for that? I was in the middle of dinner."

"Yeah, by the way, you're still wearing your date." Rose motioned by her chin and Erica copied her, flicking the blood off. "Anyway, yes, that's why I'm staging an intervention so late at night!"

"Look, as much as I love Eva, I'm not staying here at almost eleven p.m. just to talk about Benny."

"And I'm really tired, Rose." I pitched in, wagging my tongue alongside the plastic of the bag out of boredom.

"You, quit lying!" Rose snapped. "And you, quit complaining! Now. Let's get down to business." She brought out a blue pen and a notepad. "My mom's a therapist. She deals with emotional and psychological problems. And we're gonna help you get past your self-righteousness and dig deeper into that black heart of yours."

I almost laughed, but my humor was buried underneath my distress and ambition to sleep. I looked at Sarah. "And _you _approve of this, too?"

She shrugged. "Hey, maybe it'll help you out in being less grumpy."

The room emitted in giggles and laughs and Rose nodded in agreement. "You are pretty grumpy, too."

I rolled my eyes and yawned. "So. What's my first 'exercise'?"

"For tonight, let's talk about how your date went."

**.v.X.^.X.v.**

_A Few Nights Ago..._

_"It's actually a pretty nice place, you know, detracting the lack of food and light," I said, leading the way down the stairs, twining a brown lock of hair around my finger. My stomach was full, however, my muscles were tightened and I could feel my lips twitching. I almost missed the last step, but I caught myself by holding onto the railing. _

_Now, my stomach erupted in jitters and queasiness. And we barely had begun the date._

_"Eva," Benny addressed me, "are you okay? You're all wobbly."_

_I drew in a breath and put on a smile. "I'm fine." I cleared my throat. "So, that ends our tour. What movie did you bring?"_

_He brought the messenger bag from his side to in front of him and reached inside. "Uh... I-I didn't know what you'd like, so I winged it..." He held up to DVDs. "_Titanic_... or _Batman Begins_."_

_I put my hands on my hips. "Batman, of course. What's so romantic about two people on an ill-fated ship? Plus, it's like six hours. You honestly want to be here until one a.m.?"_

_He grinned. "As long as I get a great view of that beautiful face of yours."_

_I snorted and took the Batman DVD from him and squatting down to put it in the DVD player. From the corner of my eye, I watched him make himself comfortable on the couch. He cupped his hand over his mouth to yawn, then assembly checked his breath, guessing from how he jerked back, fanning his hand back and forth. I giggled a little, then quickly directed my attention to the TV once he glanced my way._

_I bounced back up and flopped on the couch, making a gap between the two of us. The awkward silence between the two of us grew as promotions for other DVDs and previews of upcoming movies flashed on the screen._

_"So..." I said, criss-crossing my legs up on the couch. "How... how was your day?"_

_How was your day? Really, Eva? That's the best you could do? You might as well bash your head into the TV screen right now, just to make this less boring than it already is._

_"Pretty average," Benny replied, scooting closer to me. I tried to move over some again, but my butt was already sunken into the plumpness of the couch. I didn't feel like moving either. So, there I was. Sitting next to him, thigh to thigh. "And yours was filled with endless party invites and guys hitting on you, right?"_

_"Actually... no," I said earnestly. "I'm sort of like an outcast now. Sure, people have always been intimidated by me, but they used to laugh and talk with me. Now, I'm just being passed along in the hallway or looked at funnily."_

_"Welcome to my world." he murmured, sipping from a can of Coca-Cola._

_I took a can from the table and nodded. "It doesn't matter what other people think," I sighed. "I think you're pretty cool." Yes, shocker, I was being honest for once in my life. I really thought Benny was one-of-a-kind and weird in a good way, and there wasn't a guy in the entire school like him. Not one guy who wasn't my boyfriend could make me laugh so much in one day._

_And it wasn't my weak, soft side talking. It was plain, cold Eva, who was growing a little bit warmer with time._

_"Really?" he asked, sounding unsatisfied. I nodded. "Well, you're a pretty cool girl... minus the sharp tongue and vindictiveness." I giggled, shrugging because I knew he was right._

_"Here's to being pretty cool misfits." I announced, holding my Coke in the air. He put his by mine and they clinked, making our toast official. We took sips just as the movie began to start._

**.v.X.^.X.v.**

Last night's "therapy" was a disaster. Soon as I started to say want happened, Erica had to say something snappy and Rose had to bark back at her, and then Sarah tried to break it up, but then I went along and chastised Erica which seemed like a good idea at the time, but ended in me making a mental note to myself: _never_ chastise Erica. I may love her, but facts are facts.

Later that morning, when I was fully awake and properly nurtured, Rose drove me to school, which made me feel old, having someone younger than me drive me around.

Now, remember when I said vampirism was a gift, not a curse? Yeah, well, the more I tell the girls more and more about being a full-fledged vampire, the more Sarah chooses to ignore me and work her way around being a fledgling for the rest of whatever she has left of her life. She supposedly has a new substitute, though I doubt that's enough to keep her alive and well, and she's complaining that it tastes gross like old shoe. My question is _how_ does she know what old shoe tastes like?

What's stupid is that Erica and I are still trying to convince her to drink straight from humans, but she always replies by saying it's stealing and we have to think about the lives we're taking. This of course phases right through me. If it took a life to supply a life, then it had to be done.

In school, we came into the active hallway, where a guy in a horrendous blonde mullet and crowding people around him, and the boys were by him, too... and all four of them were wearing matching outfits, khakis, matching vests, and the same red T-shirt.

I broke into laughter and directed the girls to look. Sarah beckoned Ethan over and hollered, "This new blood substitute tastes awful! I need a new-new one!"

"You guys gotta stay out of sight," Ethan prompted. "That's Doug Falconhawk." He gestured over across the hall.

I slipped out a chuckle and rested my elbow on Rose's shoulder. "_That _guy?" I asked, pointing at the the guy.

"Is he the night-vision poser from the show you guys like? He looks like a prison hairdresser." Sarah commented, laughing.

"Yeah, serious mullet fail," Erica added, "And you should be worried about _him. _If he gets in our way, he's lunch." I nodded in approval as she looked at me. Like I said, food was food. Whether it came in all shapes and all sizes. It was the Circle of Life.

"His hair, is awesome! Doug is like Batman, all four ghostbusters, and a scientist motorcycle gang all in one. And if he spots you, you won't have a chance." Ethan said, giving a head shake.

"Me?" I asked, pointing at myself. He nodded. "_Me_? The hunters I've seen were clever, scheming, and nasty, _and _they're pretty handy with an ax. What scares me the most about this guy is the way he styles his hair. I think I can handle a middle-aged man with a plastic crossbow."

"Rose, _please _keep Eva out of sight. If Doug sees her, she's the first to go." Rose nodded and looked up at me, raising her eyebrows. My jaw hung. He did _not _just say that. "Just stay away from him, for your own safety."

"I don't care about him, I need some new blood!" whispered Sarah, observing around so that no one else heard.

"I'll talk to Benny about it. Later, guys." He waved and left for class.

"Speaking of talking to Benny..." Rose said, staring at me. I shrugged. "Eva!"

"What?" I chuckled. I took out a piece of gum from my pocket and slid it into my mouth.

"Have you guys even _talked _about the date since it happened?"

I curved my hand under my chin, thinking about it. I answered, "Nah, not really. I haven't really been up to talking about it, and obviously, neither has he, so I guess that's it. Sorry to burst your Beneva bubble." I smacked my gum and poked my finger, then turned to walk away. She ran after me, snatching my hand and whining. "Rose, get off me."

"No!" She jumped on my back and I glowered at her. "Admit you love him!"

"Admit you're stupid and get the hell off me!" I shouted back, trying to shake her odd me, but her nails were piercing into the skin of my shoulders. I finally managed to divide her from me and run off to class.

**v.X.^.X.v.**

The whole day went by in a blur. I guess it was kind of boring, you know, without the guys there to be all ignorant or silly or smart-ass... not that I _missed _them or anything, it's just that I had no one except Rose to correct by sharp tongue or bad talk since Sarah was still on her endless rampage for a new blood sub and Erica was God knows where. Rose was kind of feeling under the mood, too, and I could definitely tell. I could read it off of her face, and she knew I could. It's been like that for as long as I can remember.

In order to get home, we had to drive past the cemetery, which brought back a lot of memories. I could see the wing of the angel statue not to far from the church, where the Cubile Animus was originally buried. I guess I was too far in thought, because the car halted and a hand reached out to shake me. Rose was by my side, looking more than confused. Her soft, blue eyes stared intently at me, sending a shockwave of chills down my spine.

"Evie, you okay?" she asked, her voice was quaking. I nodded, fixing my passive expression to an assertive one. "You just got all stiff... I sensed something wrong."

Rose was always picking up traces of supernatural paranoia and auras and energies - it was kind of a wit- _enchanter_ thing, excuse me. Whenever she touched me, or any other vampire per se, she could sense a cold, almost freezing undead darkness from them, and it took her a while to ignore it. Otherwise, she could feel what was wrong with people, judging from their feelings and body language. In my opinion, you didn't have to be supernatural to read people

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just... chilly," I answered, making sure my voice wasn't uneasy. When I turned my head, I noticed that we were pulled in a driveway - Ethan's driveway. I sighed and faced Rose again, shaking my head. "I thought you were ordered to keep me _away _from Doug."

"Rory texted me." I smirked. "It was urgent! He was bragging about how 'awesome' Doug was, and he asked if I wanted to hang out with the four of them after school-"

"Rose!"

"What? And, I figured, I couldn't leave you alone, because you'd be all moody and lonely, then you'd get hungry and go hunting, and with a loco monster hunter on the loose, what the hell was I supposed to-"

"Rose!" I repeated, unbuckled my seatbelt.

"Hey, I'm a _great _friend for _not _leaving you alone! C'mon, cut me some slack!"

I rolled my eyes. "I'll think about it. If I get an arrow in my head on the other hand..."

"So is the big, bad Eva Badica scared is afraid of a human?" teased Rose. The way she said it... The way she said my name... My Russian name felt odd to me, since no one had used it in so long, but it was just the way it fluently rolled off her tongue, like she was a natural at Russian. I smiled, shaking my head. "Do you want a teddy bear to go with that doll face?"

I answered her by getting out of the car, slamming the door behind me. As soon as I started my slow-paced marching, a blur of color brushed past me, knocking me down on the lawn. I looked up to evil-eye someone, and wasn't surprised that Sarah was at the door with a scowl on her face. Once the door was opened, she stomped right in. I hopped up from the grass and fixed my jeans.

"Eva, _don't._" advised Rose.

I shrugged. "Rule number one of being my best friend: learn how to eavesdrop." I grappled her arm and brought her to the front door.

"I'm your best friend?" she asked smugly. I teased her with a smile and went by the door casually, folding my arms. Rose was behind me, and I could feel her hands shaking.

"I _need_ blood! Help me!" Sarah fretted, taking him by the arms.

I giggled, giving myself away, making Ethan's focus go from Sarah to me. I held back as he looked annoyed.

"Guys, Doug's gonna see you!" he warned shakily.

"Oh no, I'm paralyzed by terror," She went into the living room, where Doug was, holding a camera. I hastily moved from the door to out of his sight. Rose was right, I realized. I hadn't a clue what this man was capable of, even if he look phony.

"What's good a camera that sees vampires, when there's no vampires to see," Doug said doubtfully, thrusting the camera forward. His jaw fell. Now, I was glad as hell that I moved. "Holy cow! A vampire!" he cried, pointing at Sarah.

"What? No, this is just a girl I know, who just showed up to leave." Ethan covered up, trying to get Sarah out easily.

"Oh, give me a break!" she snapped, losing it and hissing at Doug, fangs out and eyes gleaming gold. I slanted my head down, running my hand down my face. Even _I _wouldn't be stupid enough to expose myself.

"A vampire!" he repeated again. He ran off into the kitchen.

"Looks like a broke your hero," Sarah said offhandedly. "Can you science me some new blood?"

"Are you serious?" I exclaimed, coming from the shadows. "The man _saw _you! Surely you can't be so bloody stupid!"

"Says the girl who wasn't afraid of him in the first place," she teased, making my mood stir. "He _really _looked like he was gonna do something about it. The guy is a total poser." she scoffed.

An arrow was shot, whirring through the air, and it struck the wall, a few centimeters away from Sarah's head. Doug was out of the kitchen, geared with a crossbow and a helmet, which had a camera attached to it. "A real vampire." he confirmed, his hopes sounding way more confident than before.

"You better _run._" I said, shaking my head. She opened the door and sped out into the nightfall.

"The haters on my blog can eat it!" Doug shouted victoriously, going after her. It was kind of amusing. A man with a fake supernatural show finally finds a vampire in his presence, and basically didn't notice the ones lingering around him in the first place.

"Sarah's in trouble." Ethan confirmed.

"And Doug _is _awesome," Benny added, looking pretty convinced. I rolled my eyes and snapped my head towards him, giving him a hard, cold look.

Although Sarah and I had our simpleminded mistakes, I cared about my kind. Yeah, I know all the shit I went on and on about not caring for anyone and being a lone wolf and stuff, but vampires were all connected in a messed-up family that seems to brawl with each other, but ends up looking out for one another. And to make a point... this look made him quiet.

A sharp breeze passed by, strong enough to throw my hair out of place. Rory appeared with a pastry at hand.

"The best I could do was a danish," he explained, "did I miss anything?"

**.v.X.^.X.v.**

_A Few Nights Ago_

_The Black Mansion_

_"So, are you really Jesse's sister, or is that like an act or something? Because you guys have no resemblance, whatsoever." Benny said, __unintentionally giving me a cute smirk. I smiled and walked over to him. The movie was over, and he had found out my secret of being a Batman fan and teased me about it. We ended up tiredly heading upstairs again, where we stood in the study, talking again about topics at random._

_"I'm not his sister," I answered, rolling my eyes. "I already explained it to you, I changed him out of pity, and we bonded over the years. From founding the town, to just traveling around the world." I laughed, remembering the places we went. "We went to Italy, somewhere he's always wanted to go, Hungary, France, England, Ireland... _I never went back home, though._" The last sentence came out, almost in a whisper._

_"Home?" he asked, sitting on the red leather couch, leaning back, folding his arms._

_"I was born in Russia as Eva Olendzki, a naive, poor girl who barely knew English, and wanted nothing more than to make her father happy," I said to his surprise. "I didn't tell you that part."_

_"What was it like? You know, back then? Like, your family?"_

_"My father, Nikolai, worked as farmer, and a carpenter in his spare time, though he didn't make much of a fortune. To him, I was his fortune, or so he told me, but let's face it, we would barely afford to buy another horse. He was an old, sickly man. Sometimes, I thought he was crazy, because he went on about things like vampires and werewolves, and women of witchcraft, but he had vision. He was wise, and he did all he could to protect my brother Alek and I." I looked up from twiddling my thumbs to see if he was bored._

_"Keep going, it's actually ironic that you didn't believe in vampires when you became one," Benny chuckled._

_I shrugged. "It was only until recent attacks on my village that I started to believe in those things, and I _prayed_ that nothing would happen to my father and brother. But, my brother was... a lost cause. He was foolish, chasing after girls in our village and marking himself as a self-professed ladies' man It was because of a girl that he died, but I don't want to get into that..." I paused, taking a breath. "Then... shortly following his death, literally a few moments after, I sort of lost it. So many things were going on at once, I was so confused. My father, who was worried about my health and safety, took matters into his own hands and introduced me to Andrey, my mentor. He changed me, made me change my last name to Badica, since I reminded him of some woman he knew, and I turned into the girl you know and love today." I crossed my legs, feeling smug._

_"Foreign hottie," he said, nodding. "Speak Russian for me."_

_"Umm..." I mused, thinking. The thick accent I had way back had been hard to cover up, but it could be faintly heard in my voice today, light and cute. I got up and sat myself in his lap, taking his chin and making him face me. "_Vy glupyye, krasavchik,_" I whispered seductively, staring at him intently.  
_

_He laughed. "What does that mean?"_

_"You silly, pretty boy." I translated. He smiled. As the time drifted past, I could feel my head drawing closer to his, my lips pursing themselves, and my eyes flittering closed. His lips pressed on mine, his warm, soft lips. They brought a flimsy, balmy feel to my body. The kiss itself was sweet and delicate, not as rough and passionate as the one I shared with his evil self. His hand rubbed my arm, goosebumps shuddering over me. I pulled away, knowing that I was blushing._

**.v.X.^.X.v.**

"This episode is gonna be awesome!" uttered Benny, still raving about how Doug was out and about on the loose, chasing Sarah, fully equipped the gear to do so. Inside his van was where we stood, observing the video feed he was getting from his ridiculous camera-helmet. I tiredly hovered by (not literally) the boys as they sat in front of the computer which was receiving the information from the outside.

"This is bad," Ethan said.

"Uh, hey, let's not say things we can't take back!" Rory disapproved, giving him a condemning head-shake.

"We've got an audio feed," Benny brought to our attention, pressing something to bring up the volume so that we could listen in.

"Okay, Mckowski, we're going live with this, but ti better be ratings gold. We're interrupting_ Biggest Bravest Babes_!" a voice from the feed warned, and telling from how he addressed Doug by 'Mckowski,' I had missed a lot.

"This is huge, Jerry," Doug said whilst running, "the world's first televised vampire kill. This bloodsucker's dead... again!" I rolled my eyes at his ignorant joke and glanced over at Rose, who was by Rory, playing with strands of his hair.

"Guys, we gotta do something," Ethan suggested, looking aghast.

The same accent of anxiety seemed to catch on with Benny when he asked, "Do you think Doug would kill Sarah?"

"Even if he doesn't, the whole world's gonna know she's a vampire, this town will be crawling with guys like Doug, plus, spooky government scientists."

"I guess that'll be Eva's cue to ditch, right?" Rose said with a smirk, leaning over a chair, fingers laced with one another. I shrugged, trying too hard to look innocent. Whatever called for survival, I had a good reputation of self-preservation.

"Well then, what do we do? Doug's our hero, I don't wanna use any of my arcane power to rip his soul from his mortal form," Benny said, as if it were a threat.

I laughed, tossing my head back mildly. "Sure you will, hotshot. My money's on Rose."

"Yeah, it's a good thing you're bad at magic," Rory commented, his focus on the screen. I smiled and gave him a high-five. This was the first time I had actually heard something intelligent... well, mildly intelligent, come out of his mouth that made sense, and if you were in my position, wouldn't you be proud?

"Well, if Doug wants a show about vampires," Ethan disclosed, "then we'll give him one." He looked like he was up to something.

"Um, hello? Elaborate on that, please." Rose said, crossing her arms.

**.v.X.^.X.v.**

If I wasn't hungry, I'd be inspiriting and totally humored by what was going on around me. I could think of it as a play, but it wasn't even that. It was more of a soap opera, something similar to Dusk, which I tried to endure... or maybe I could think of it sort of like The Vampire Diaries, since the name Bonnie was being used, but I wouldn't _dare_ insult the wonderful actors. Yeah, a sucky Dusk soap opera.

I blended perfectly with the dark shadows of the warehouse, since I was accustom to hiding in them. My eyes flicked to the light side once I heard footsteps - Doug's. I glanced at Rose, who was sitting on the ground, well-hidden from plain sight, studying from her grimoire. She gave me a thumbs-up without looking. I tried not to giggle and give myself away, even though everyone else was far from us, also hidden in the room... well, minus Rory, who was occupying space with Rose, sitting beside her, practically breathing on her neck.

"I've tracked the nefarious throat-muncher into this abandoned warehouse, clearly ground zero for local vampire activity," Doug said to whoever was watching on from his camera, his crossbow by his chest, aimed carefully. "Well, sorry bats, but you're not the only bird in town anymore." I scowled silently. I'd rather be caught at Sears than this dump.

The muffled whisper of another language was detected by my hearing and something stun Doug's crossbow. I bit my lip, careful not to pierce my flesh too hard. I wasn't nervous, I just didn't want anyone to get hurt.

"Holy cow, a werewolf!" Doug suddenly cried. Was this guy's catchphrase 'holy cow'?

Ethan was now visible in the warehouse's open space, dressed in a ridiculous werewolf mechanic getup. "You trespass, human, on ground that is not yours!"

"I'm tracking a vampire, your enteral foe!"

"You're tracking my forbidden girlfriend!"

"And my future vampire wife," another voice pitched in. Benny was now in the situation, and I had the pleasure in dressing him up in sleek and sexy clothing, but ruining the costume with putting makeup on him and slicking back his great hair with gel. I was going for a Damon Salvatore look crossed with Jakeward, but it took an awful turn.

"Another vampire?" Doug asked. "Well, at least it's a fair fight now."

"I am Fangstorm, the vampire. If you have harmed my love, then I will totally... vampire you..." I would've stifled a laugh right then and there If I weren't supposed to be all sneaky and invisible.

"Bonnie prefers me, Greg, the werewolf mechanic with a good heart." Ethan countered. I peered over at Rose, whose head was buried in Rory's chest, my ears catching her hums of soft laughter.

"I think I've stumb- hunted my way into a supernatural love triangle," Doug said to his viewing audience.

"Bonnie and I have an arranged marriage. The tradition has lasted for, like, a million years, and it's really important!" snapped Benny, losing what he originally had to say... or maybe losing patience?

"No, stop! Stop this madness!" Sarah had jumped in, dressed in the pink snuggie she was given, paired with a plastic tiara. I snuggled the bottom half of my face with my scarf and chuckled for a few seconds.

"I've been tracking a vampire princess? Hmm, I thought royalty would be better dressed." Doug remarked, and I was sure that he was talking to himself this time.

"I heard that, you jerk!" She went back into character. "Fangstorm, Greg, please don't make me choose between love and the super ancient tradition of our people." I rolled my eyes. There were _no actual _vampire traditions, or none that I knew of at least.

Benny was turned towards Ethan now. "I challenge you to a wicked spin-kick fight. Whoever wins will win her love." He backed up towards the crates we were hiding by.

I glanced at Rory and winked, nodding. He took hold of Benny's leather jacket, whispering, "Dude, I'll throw you out."

"What? No, it'll hurt." he protested, softly. I swooped over to the other side swiftly and grabbed his shoulders from behind, shoving him forward towards Ethan, making both of them crash on the floor. I came back, giggling. Rose hit me, giving me a dark look. I snorted and crept over to another row of crates on the side of the room, where Doug was. It was kind of enjoyable, his reaction. He was so absent to what was really happening.

"I beg you, please, Mr. Falconhawk, you can't let them kill each other," My eyes moved to Sarah, who stood beside Doug. "You're the only human who can help."

I waited for his response. "Do I keep my hunter's instincts in check and play peacemaker, or do I bag myself some vampires and write my name in the history books?" he asked his viewers, straddling around the room. He turned on Sarah. Getting the idea of what he was getting to, I took off my scarf, tying it around my eyes as a mask. "Yeah, I'll do that one." He broke the icy coat on his crossbow and aimed for Sarah. I sped cunningly into view and threw him where the boys were having their fake fight. I dusted my hands and put them on my hips.

"_Eva_! Why'd you have to throw him so hard?" Ethan chastised, drawing away from the "fight."

"Ethan, shush!" Benny warned him.

I sighed, taking down my scarf and shrugging. "Hey, this was _not _my fault!" Okay, it kind of _was_, but once again, I had a soft spot for newborn vampires having their lives ended too shortly. As Doug recognized us, addressing us by name, I smiled. So much for soap operas.

**.v.X.^.X.v.**

Rose retreated, since she was the only one who wasn't caught in the act, saying that she'd meet me home. Everyone was changed out of costume, watching Doug pack away his supernatural-hunting belongings. I leaned against a tree, smirking in amusement. Even though this was a disaster, at least I _actually_ got to be on TV, which could be crossed off my bucket list.

"I'm sorry, Doug, but when you showed up, we thought it would be awesome, to be on TV." Ethan fibbed as a cover story.

"I was live. I'm ruined. How can you do that to a guy? I just wanted to make a fan's day," Doug said, disappointed. I would feel a bit sympathetic for the guy, but I barely knew him, so he could've been faking it. But it sure didn't _sound_ like it.

"_And_ maybe shoot a vampire," added Sarah, shrugging.

"Yeah, maybe, on camera. Instead, I got punked by a Dusk convention." He gave his bag to Rory to put in his truck, and the young vampire was more than happy to do so.

"I'm sorry, Doug," Ethan said again,

"I don't know why you would wanna screw over your own hero, just to get on TV. Dressing up as monsters? Rigging my camera so that this girl would show up as a vampire? Kids weren't like his before Newbie-Tube."

"We're really sorry... _I guess_." I said, looking if any messages were left for me.

"Well, you might as well keep these," I nearly lost it when he took off a wig, which was the blonde mullet which I predicted was fake in the first place. He handed that and his camera to Benny, who looked devastated. I snuck a picture of bald Doug to show to Rose, knowing that she'd drop everything just to laugh.

"All packed up, Mister..." Rory gaped as he came out the van to see this _new side_ of Doug.

"Thanks, Rory," Doug said. He closed the doors to the backside of the van. "I think I need a rule number eleven: Some scares aren't worth finding." He vanished with that.

"Thanks for protecting me and helping keep Whitechapel's secret," Sarah told Ethan. "Oh, and I'm never playing Bonnie again. No matter what."

"I'm sorry, guys." Ethan apologized to the rest of us.

"I can't talk right now. Everything I ever believed in... was a wig." Benny said, dispirited.

I shrugged. "I'm just happy my head's not on some guy's mantel."

Doug came back to the place we were all standing. "Camper won't start," he explained. "You're not a real mechanic, are you?" he asked Ethan. He shook his head awkwardly, and the older man nodded, looking pissed off. "Worst episode ever." he concluded, walking off.

"I'm sure as hell I'm glad that's over." I relived, rolling my shoulders back. "Anyway, I'm going home. 'Night."

A chorus of "good nights" followed as I turned around to zip home, but a few moments later, someone's shuffle of footsteps followed me, calling out my name. I turned around and stopped for Benny, who was becoming short of breath. I waited for him to catch it, looking up at the deep, dark night sky, illuminated with glistening dots.

"We need to talk," he stated, holding my shoulder.

"Knowing you people, that's never a good thing." I chuckled. "All right. What'd I do this time?"

"No, I mean we have to talk about the other night." he pointed out, nodding. "Remember? Me, you, Batman, the kiss. The kiss in particular."

"Oh, um... I-I didn't think you cared about that."

"Are you kidding?" he exclaimed. "That's the third kiss I had this freshman year, and the first one that wasn't supernaturally-influenced. Of course I'll care, Eva!"

"Damn, okay, why are you yelling?" I asked in defense. "What _about_ the kiss do you wanna talk about?"

"Everything! After it, you got all weird and moody and I left. And we haven't talked about it... and... I wanted to know... if..." I raised my eyebrows. "If it meant anything..." He cleared his throat, "...to you."

"I... I dunno!" I shouted nervously. I never felt nervous. Why was I feeling nervous? "You never asked to talk about the other kiss, the one at school, a couple weeks ago." I stalled.

"That was because of the love potion." Benny said dully. "I like you, Eva, okay? I think you're pret– beautiful. You're funny, and daring, and different, and I know that sounds pretty cliche, like out of those high school movies, but it's true."

"Benny–"

"No, let me talk." I was outraged by his audacity, but at the same time, I admired it. "I don't care what everyone says about you."

"Wait, what do they say about me?"

"Well, we're past the fact that you tried to kill us... Usually when you're brought up, your name's like a curse word. It just stales the air and then we have to switch to another topic." I rolled my eyes. "But that's not the point. Look, I don't care that you're selfish, and I don't care that you're prejudice against me and everyone else. I really like you."

I sighed, "But Benny–"

"I'm not done–"

"Let me say what I have to say, too!" I said, putting my hands at the sides of his face. I calmed down. "I... I've been thinking, and it's relentlessly plaguing my mind. I realized, that I do feel a way for you, and I just had to admit it," Rose would be proud right now, but she would be angry about what I would say next. "But..."

"But? Isn't it obvious? You like me, I like you, it's only fair that we–"

"It's only fair to you that I don't interfere with you. Face it. I'm a vampire for God's sake! If we do get together, we'd only have a minimal time together."

"I thought you always told Sarah to look on the bright side. All you're thinking of are negatives. You're forgetting that there's magic—mine and Rose's... even though she's slightly better than me. There's possibilities, Eva, and I want you to know that."

The thought of spending an eternity, or dying with him was a possibility. I wanted to accept that I liked him and that he wanted to be with me, but that dark part of me wanted to reject the idea.

"Just think about it." Benny told me, disrupting my thoughts. And he left me with that.

* * *

**_Kisses! ~TwistedTelepath_**


	12. Cold Bodies, Warm Hearts

**Disclaimer: Again, I own nothing... I think y'all are gonna like this chapter.**

* * *

_XI. Cold Bodies, Warm Hearts_

_S1E11: The Brewed_

It's amazing what can happen in nine hours. Oh, excuse me, nine and a half hours. Nine hours and thirty minutes. Five-hundred and seventy minutes I think. Okay, no matter how many minutes there are, there's no real explanation for what happened. All I know is all the teachers went crazy, and now I'm staking out with Rose and the boys for what looks like the rest of the night.

"I watched a movie like this once," Rose spoke up, looking at me. "And then the kids ended up being eaten alive."

"That's a lovely ending." I said, rolling my eyes and looking down at the combat boots I wore. Why I decided to put on combat boots today was beyond me, but it was a good thing, since we did so much running today.

"Oh man. Why can't we be at home, watching_ So You Think You Can Fly_, eating a triple meat-lover's pizza, with extra meat." Benny moaned to her, holding her close to his chest. He quickly looked up at me for a reaction, but I kept a straight face.

Jealousy. That little bitch was playing the jealousy card on me.

"Yeah, instead our teachers could bash in here any second and scoop out our brains like chip dip." Ethan said, and I couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or for real.

"You think we can outrun them?"

"We don't have to outrun them, we just have to outrun _you_."

"You know, I think they'd go after your brain first there, honor roll." I snickered, not startled by the sudden pound on the door. Rose yelped out, quickly catching herself. The badass act had worn down now. It was just plain, easily-frightened Rose now.

"Where's Sarah? We could really use her help right now." Rose suggested. I gaped at her. Was she _trying_ to offend me?

"I don't think she's in a helping mood today," Benny answered.

"You know, I would've handled your bully problem perfectly if I felt like it." I said, searching through my bag for anything resourceful. Well, vodka wouldn't help fend off zombies, but it was good enough to drown myself in memories from home.

"We all know you wouldn't." Ethan stated.

"Yeah, I really _wouldn't_." I scoffed, popping off the cap of my flask and taking a gulp of the liquid.

**.v.X.^.X.v.**

_9:15 a.m._

_Nine Hours and Thirty Minutes Ago_

_Whitechapel High_

_"I'm not breaking any arm or smashing anyone through a wall just because he called you... What was it?" Sarah asked, giving a head shake. It was amusing how the boys would get easily pissed off about who they were getting teased by upperclassmen. What did they expect? They were prey, and the jocks were predators._

_"Teethan," admitted one boy._

_"Benny-Rabbit." added the other. I swooned over how petty they were being._

_"Aw, but that's _adorkable_." I cooed, giving an eye roll, taking hold of Benny's cheek and pinching it, annoying him._

_"It's not _what_ he says, it's _how_ he says it."_

_"But if I say it, it's cute, right?" I batted my eyes and pulled him down to my level. Even though I was still considering a relationship with him, I'd still have my fun whist I was single._

_"Nah, I'm mad at you." he said, standing back up. I pouted, turning away._

_"Let's go, boys!" The Chemistry teacher, whose name slipped my mind, was calling for the two._

_"Be right there, sir. And if we're not there in five minutes, start boring kids without us!"_

_"We'll be right there, sir." Ethan supplied in a more respectable tone. He turned to me with pleading eyes. "Eva, this is the one time I'm willing to have you rip someone's heart out on purpose. Take it or leave it."_

_"Holy shit!" I gasped excitedly. I've always offered to rip someone's heart out, but he's always rejected the option. Now, I have the perfect opportunity. I've longed for this for a while. The Chem teacher eyed me evilly. "I mean, 'holy cow.'" I said less enthusiastically. I shook my head, feeling that the phrase didn't feel right for me. "Nah, I mean 'holy shit.' 'Holy fuck' if you wanna get technical."_

_"Young lady!" he cried. I laughed._

_"Forget it and walk away, old man." I compelled, staring deep into his eyes. His eyes mirrored my icy blue color and he turned to walk into the classroom. "So, there was talk of ripping hearts, am I correct?"_

_"Don't even think about it, Eva," Sarah forbid, holding her hand to my face. I scowled, rolling my eyes once more. "Forget it; I have a field trip to the art gallery. Lucky me."_

_"Damn right lucky you! Do you realize what I would give to go see priceless art?"_

_She shrugged. "Later, Teethan, Benny-Rabbit," Sarah stared at me for a while. "Beava-Eva."_

_"Beava-Eva? What the hell does that mean?"_

_"You're always chewing on your pencils when you're hungry." she mused. The boys laughed with her as she left._

_"It's cute when she says it," Ethan said dreamily, in a daze. I rolled my eyes a third time at her beaver joke. I _do not_ chew on my pencils!_

_"Fuck off, Romeo." I spat. I whipped around and walked down the hall to go to gym._

**v.X.^.X.v.**

_7:48 p.m._

_Nine Hours and Thirty Minutes Later_

_The Chemistry Lab ~ Whitechapel High_

"You swore a lot today. Might have to get you a jar." Rose commented after the story/flashback was over.

I slumped down in the chair I was sitting in and finished off the rest of the vodka. I don't remember when the last time I got drunk was, but a quarter-of-a-flask of Russian vodka wouldn't get me running down the halls naked.

"Rose, right now, you can suck my dick." I said, raising my head.

"Didn't know you had one." she teased nonchalantly.

The constant banging on the locked door was giving me a headache, and this is the one time I cursed vamp hearing. Dozens of fists jammed against the door's steel, and with the sound, I could visualize it. Teachers were hungry and angry, and I didn't have the slightest clue why. But hey, if it was gonna be my last day, I might as well drink it out.

"Oh, this is so not fair! Why couldn't we get some sign that this was gonna happen?" Benny exclaimed at no one. From my perspective, it looked like he was going crazy.

In times like this, Papa would've told me to pray, but I couldn't convert from natural-born sinner to perfect saint in such little time.

"Yeah, a hint would've been nice." Ethan added.

"Well, didn't we?" I sighed, running my fingers through my hair. It was tangled and twisted.

**v.X.^.X.v.**

_9:16 a.m._

_Earlier in the Chemistry Lab ~ Whitechapel High_

_Coming out from the girls' locker room, I was glad I had recovered from the worst P.E. experience of my life. I could remember the sweat dampening underneath my arms and coming in beads on my forehead. My hair was becoming wavy and damp from it, and my red shorts were riding up to my butt. With super speed, yeah, you'd think gym would be easy, but the endless push-ups and sit-ups and jumping jacks were where I drew the line._

_Now that I was fresh out the shower, and my hair was washed and running down my back in curls, I made my way to the Chemistry lab to check up on Rose and the boys with my weaken and strained bones and muscles._

_I managed to sneak in the room unnoticed. Rose was towards the back of the room, her reading glasses on and her focus on her notebook. I sat myself in the vacant seat next to her and looked up at what the teacher was babbling about._

_"Bromine, aluminum, nitrogen... Brain." he mumbled._

_There it was. BrAlN styled in chalk on the board._

**v.X.^.X.v.**

_7:53 p.m._

_Back in the Chemistry Lab ~ Whitechapel High_

"Do any of you realize they're coming any minute?" Rose questioned, staring briefly into space. Her blue eyes then returned to reality. "And then we're gonna die."

"Nice. Thanks for the positivity," Benny said sarcastically.

"Hey, I'm just stating the truth. And there aren't exactly spells to slay zombies." She held up her grimoire, shrugging.

I switched views from them to the door. The teachers' hands had shattered the glass of the door, and they were trying to open it from the inside. I went up to the door carefree and took up two shards from the floor. I them jabbed them repeatedly into their hands, trying to make them retreat back, but they just kept coming. I groaned and dropped th glass, making both shards break into a gazillion crystal-like pieces.

"Any suggestions?" I asked, shrugging.

"Lemme help," Ethan said. I noticed he was under one of the tables when he came by my side with a fire-extinguisher and started to slam it against the hands. Somehow that was more efficient than stabbing the hands.

"If he gets bit, I call dibs on all his video games," I heard Benny whisper to Rose.

"And if she gets bit, I call dibs on her house." Rose whispered back, and I could hear the greediness in her tone.

"And if both of you don't shut up, I call dibs in your heads on my nightstand!" I hissed, turning around. I focused back on the door.

"She gets grumpy without having blood within two hours."

"How about this," I told Ethan, taking the extinguisher. I held up the nozzle and sprayed the foam all over the hands. They were repelled by it and left the door alone. Weird.

"Good thinking! They hate that stuff! If we can make it last long enough, we may be able to hold them off until Sarah gets back!" Ethan said, high-spirited now.

"Sarah _is_ coming back, right?" Benny inquired, just to make sure.

"Of course. We're the most important things in her life, right?"

"Or we can feed Eva some blood and she can kick some ass!" I advised. The room went silent. "No? Yes? Come on, I'm hungry and weak!"

"_Sure_ you guys are." Rose said, rolling her eyes and giggling.

**.v.X.^.X.v.**

_10:35 a.m._

_Earlier in the Chemistry Lab ~ Whitechapel High_

_The day seemed as though it was going by slower and slower, even though it was currently around ten a.m. My head was stuck in my bag, teeth sucking up the bloody plastic of a blood bag once again, since I was _starving_. Everything was foggy and indistinct before, but now everything was just right and had much clarity. I was stronger this way._

_I took my head out from the bag to see that the teacher scribbled 'brain' all over the board, maybe out of boredom, or maybe he was just losing it slowly. I would go crazy if I had to see these faces five days a week for ten months. And yes, myself included._

_"Brain," the teacher muttered again, "need a... Excuse me." He walked out, but crashed against the door frame before leaving completely._

_"I think what he meant was, uh... Text freely amongst yourselves!" Benny distorted to every student's pleasure. Almost everyone whipped out their phone._

_I dragged my fingers along the corners of my mouth to see drying blood on my fingertips, them I yawned, stretching out, to hear my back loosening from stiffness. Looking next to me, Rose had her phone out, maybe on some social networking site that I'd never associate myself with._

_I reached into my bag and took out my old sketching book that I used to draw in all the time, but was now filled with memories. I flipped the pages and then I saw it._

_A sketch of a young man's face. He had angular cheekbones, scruffy blonde hair, dark, deep hazel eyes with glints of green in them, and a small scar by his cheek from a fight._

_Alek._

_I hadn't thought about Alek in ages. I wondered if he found peace. If he didn't, I wondered if he was watching over me. If he was doing so, I wanted to know if he hated me. Did he hate me because of what I become? Did hate me for all my immoral decisions? Or did he hate me for forgetting about him for Jesse. Jesse substituted as a brother in Alek's five-hundred year absence. _

_He was the most important thing in my life... but now he was just a memory._

**.v.X.^.X.v.**

_8:02 p.m._

_Currently in the Chemistry Lab ~ Whitechapel High_

"You know, I'd wish there was an easier way to do this!" Rose shouted, struggling to keep the anger out of her voice. Her hands were held up and a gold barrier-like light was preventing any more malevolent zombie violence to take place while the boys were trying to help her out in holding them off with a stool.

"You're doing great, Roza!" I assured her, smiling. My stomach then shifted a little, growling lowly. Damn, I was getting _so_ hungry.

"You know, this thing's not gonna last much longer." Ethan managed to confess.

"Maybe we should call Rory," Rose posed, looking way happier than she did a few seconds ago. Hiding that she had a crush on him wasn't really working.

To his own dismay, Benny said, "Rory? Is it _that_ bad?"

"Well, he did say he wanted to protect the innocent." Ethan pointed out.

**.v.X.^.X.v.**

_11:23 a.m._

_The Main Hallway ~ Whitechapel High_

_The Chem teacher's behavior wasn't even the root of the problem. Every teacher today was dragging themselves along the hallway by the time we finally got out of the lab. It was either suspicious behavior, or a free-for-all. This was going right through me. I was enjoying the newly-found freedom. Rose, on the other hand, was freaked out by the new place we were in and was holding onto me tightly. Not that it hurt, but man, her nails were as sharp as a stake._

_Another teacher passed by, moaning, "Brain," and Rose looked at me with innocent, wide eyes and a trembling bottom lip._

_"This has supernatural written all over in red ink!" she screamed. "That is _not_ normal!"_

_"Rose is right; she looks just as bad as our Chemistry teacher," Ethan agreed,_

_"Maybe even _worse_!"_

_"Yeah, but she's also a teacher, so who _la heck_ cares, right?" Benny humored, chuckling._

_I looked at him straight-faced. "Sometimes, there's that one moment when it's necessary to shut up." I said, patting his back. He rolled his eyes and ignored me. The silent treatment, now, eh? Screw you, too._

_"Greetings, mortals!" I could practically _hear_ Rose's heart flutter once Rory showed up in front of us, striking a Clark Kent pose. I eyed him. "And fellow immortal." he admitted, making me smile._

_"You look... stranger than usual." remarked Ethan, earning a nudge in the gut from starstruck Rose._

_"You look adorable, as always." she gushed instead. I bit back my giggles._

_"Very perspective, mortals. You are among the few that know my real secret identity." He winked at Rose before popping open his plaid shirt to show off the red undershirt with the initials R.V. on it. "RV! Rory Vampire, defender of the innocent."_

_"Ooh, I'm into it." Rose smirked, coming to his side. "Mind if I be Lois Lane?" _

_"Sure thing." My hearing picked another moan for brains, and I'm guessing Rory's did too, seeing how he stopped in thought. "Hark! A cry for help. Someone in need of... brains. RV, away!" He pulled Rose close by her waist and sped off at a humane speed with her. It was really cute how they were getting along._

_"You mean someone else in need of brains?" Benny called out after them. "You know, maybe he's finally gonna meet his soulmate after all." He shrugged._

_"Nah, he definitely found his soulmate already." I denied, setting my hand on my hip, Rose coming to mind. She was great for the little guy. She was sweet and compassionate, not too perfect, but perfect enough._

_"Whatever." he murmured, walking away from me._

_"You're _still_ not talking to me?" I exclaimed in rage. I sighed out of annoyance then turned to go to drama._

**.v.X.^.X.v.**

_2:35 p.m._

_Somewhere in School_

_In times like this, I missed my old friends. Drama club wasn't the same with wannabe humans taking over, trying to act but failing. They just weren't cut for the position, and it wasn't even funny. It went by slow, boring me. I didn't know how I was going to pull of the ending semester play with these rookies. Maybe I'd need outside help. Or maybe a spell from Rose to put me out of my misery._

_Someone was breathing on my neck at the moment. I spun around to see the art teacher, her eyes glassy and dull, her skin tarnished, and her hair wild. Drool escaped her mouth as she gawked at me._

_"Brain..." she groaned, coming for me. I squeaked, but swung my leg, sending in straight for her stomach. She staggered back, but came closer, her hands trying to get my head. I hissed at her, my teeth sharpening as I fended her off, slamming her against a locker door, forging a dent in the purple-painted iron._

_Her hands shot up and her fingers curled around my neck. I rolled my eyes, saying, "The school's gonna need a new art teacher." With that, I plunged my hand into her chest, gripping the gushy solid in it, then taking it out. Her heart was beating rapidly as her body collapsed. I shrugged then tossed the heart, ironically it fell in the nearby trash can. I took a handkerchief from my pocket and wiped my hands of blood._

_A string of moans and groans echoed my way. I sighed and ran the opposite direction, hoping to evade them. I ran into the girls' bathroom, backing up, catching my breath. Collecting the facts of what happened just now, you know, with me killing the art teacher, and the teachers losing their minds, there was only one stale fact: Zombies._

_I poked my head out in the hallway, the PA coming on. Like this was the time for an announcement about student-body president._

_"_Uh, testing, one, two... Testing.._."_

_"For _God's sake_, Benny." I sighed, slapping my forehead._

_Background noise kicked in and he continued. "_Attention all Whitechapel students, this is an emergency life-saving announcement from Benny Weir, many girls know who am I_." I stood silent as he snickered, waiting for the little twat to finish his message instead of flirting with every female in the building over the intercom. "_Due to unforeseen circumstances, uh, beyond our control, we have no choice but to cancel all classes, extracurricular activities, and_–"_

_"_Zombies! Run!_" another voice. Now where would we be without Ethan?_

_I heard someone screaming from far away and went to see what it was, out of curiosity._

**.v.X.^.X.v.**

That screaming? It was Rose's. I saved her ass from almost being eaten by the English teacher. Yeah, I was killing random teachers, but it was for the greater good! I led her through the halls carefully, but I was sure she could handle herself quite well. It was just that I needed to protect her, since her aunt was scary as hell when she called and threatened me if I let her "Rosie" get hurt, she'd have the pleasure in torturing me before stabbing me with a stake. And I meant sprinkling easy amounts of holy water on me, pressing garlic against my face, and hitting me with magic. She was freaking _crazy. _Possibly the only person on this earth that scared me.

I heard commotion coming from the boys' bathroom and ran over to it. I was just trying to get rid of as many zombies as possible. With our combined strength, Rose and I pushed the door open, seeing that Ethan and Benny had already claimed that as their hiding spot.

"Oh, it's just you guys." Rose said, shrugging, walking in. I followed her and leaned against the door, pressing my strength against it.

"Yeah, like I was saying, we're safe in here. Teachers will never enter a student washroom, it's an unwritten rule in education." Benny spoke up, my guess was he was continuing a conversation they were having before we busted in like vigilantes.

"Sure. Out there with 'Don't eat student brains.'" Ethan said, rolling his eyes. The pound ping against my back increased and I gave a muffled cry, elbowing the door.

"You know whose fault this really is? Sarah's. 'Why don't you fight your own battles?'" he mocked.

"She does have a point."

I was pushing the door closed, since the sudden increase of strength in the zombies' part was killer. Five-hundred-year-old strength would have to kick in now, but I was growing weaker from malnutrition. The door came open, and I was stumbling back before Sarah. Now, I felt insulted. A _fledgling_ could out-strength me.

"Dammit." I sputtered, surprisingly out of breath.

"Did I miss anything?" she asked. With the current position we were in, the question itself was so stupid.

"Oh, we were just talking about you. Hmm, hooray! We're saved!" Benny cheered nervously.

"We were worried about you," Ethan said, looking compassionate for his crush. "I had a vision about what's turning people into zombies. It's coffee."

"I know. Lotta Latte. Had a chat with the folks down there earlier." Sarah responded.

"I tried to call you to warn you, but you never picked up."

"Yeah, sorry about that. I kinda leant my phone to Mr. Collinwood." The pounding ceased and I took a look out in the hall. Every one those teachers were unconscious on the floor... which was weird. Still made me feel bad that I was grower weaker by the second.

"Can we go now? I mean, after I wash my hands first." Benny said, motioning the sign on the wall, reccomending to wash your hands before you leave. I rolled my eyes.

"Well, it's clear in the hallway," Ethan adverted to the almost ghostly hallway outside.

"There's nowhere to go!" testified Sarah, "The streets are crawling with zombies, and the longer we wait, the worse this thing gets. Don't you have some geek know-how on zombie-fighting?"

"Maybe if we get a sample oft he coffee, we can analyze and find a cure, or a weakness."

"Sounds like we're heading to the lab. Let's go."

"Wait. I think we're gonna need my ectoplasmic refractor from home." apprised the seer again, sighing.

"Oh I love the ectoplasmic refractor!" his best friend added.

"Here's the deal," Sarah bargained, "you guys get a sample and I'll race to your house to get the ecto-thing and we'll meet in the lab in ten minutes. Deal?"

"The refractor's in my room, on my microscope, okay?" Ethan told her. She nodded and left the room. He looked through the opened crack in the door. "Okay, she's leading them away. Good. There should still be so,e coffee in the teacher's lounge, but first we gotta make a pit-stop."

"Pit-stop? We're already here." Benny said, gesticulating to the stalls and all that good stuff. I flinched, yearning to get out of here. I felt uncomfortable around all the nightmare-worthy memories.

"Not that kind of pit-stop."

**.v.X.^.X.v.**

The Biology lab was the "pit-stop" we had to make, in order to attain pig brains in a jar. As disgusting as they looked and sounded, the blood gathering at the bottom was screaming for me and my stomach couldn't help but be attracted to them.

"Wow. Who'd of thought the Bio lab had suck-big pig brains." Benny commented, staring at the jar he was carrying.

"Well, I guess I did." Ethan said, shrugging. Rose rolled her eyes, her hand still wrapped around my forearm, giving it that tight squeeze I loathed. I removed her and opened the doors to teachers' lounge quietly. "Okay, over there. Follow me."

He went past me and I followed him and the others over to the corner. I accompanied Rose under a table as the boys were under a _foosball_ table. I held her hand in comfort and moral support, since she might as well be screaming on the tops of her lungs right now, but was doing a great job at being quiet.

"Okay, so we throw the pig brain, grab the coffee, then we're home-free." Ethan depicted. I knew the perfect picture of a plan he hatched was bound to have a flaw, but I didn't dare say a word, or I'd be accused of being a non-believer.

"I don't think you understand the meaning of home-free." Benny said. His phone almost immediately started to ring. He got it out to look.

"Don't answer it!" Rose squeaked.

"Hello? Look, I can't talk now... What? Really? That's amazing."

"Benny!" Ethan cried.

"Five-hundred minutes, unlimited texts, thirty bucks, that's good right?"

"Hang up." He did as he was told and put the phone back in his pocket. "Okay, pig brain is go." Ethan declared, removing the lid from the jar and letting the brains slide over to another distant corner, zombie teachers going after them.

"I got this." Rose said, gathering up her courage. I let go of her hand and patted her back as she got up from the table and went after a cup of coffee that was on a counter with many others. I smiled. "Let's get the hell out of here." She turned around to go, but shrieked out in fear when a zombie cornered her. She dropped the cup and kicked it down low. I slapped my forehead. At least she tried.

I got up from under the table when a hand curved around my ankle. One of the zombies was on the floor, trying to pin me down. I swore in Russian and tried to break free.

"I'll get the coffee, you guys go!" Benny shouted. Ethan took Rose and dipped whist I was still being preyed upon.

"Um, you know, I would leave, but there's a problem!" I said ignorantly. I dragged myself, the zombie in tow, towards the counter and took up a knife. It was a butter knife, but still, a knife. I held it and stabbed the zombie in the eye, making it let go of me. I shook my ankle and turned to get Benny out of here, but he was laying on the floor. I sighed and went to him, throwing his arm around my neck.

"Are you okay?" I asked, my eyes alert in case any of those bitches wanted to pick another fight.

"Totally..." he sighed. He gestured to the coffee maker in his other arm.

I made it out of the room and he let go of me, freely walking, looking a little dazed, but otherwise fine. I followed him to a corner where Ethan and Rose were. Rose ran for me, hugging me tightly.

"Thank God you're okay!" she said, her nose brushing against my neck.

"Yeah, I'd be better if I had some space to breath." I told her. She let go, apologizing. "Dome freaking out?"

"Maybe, maybe not, but in the next post-apocalyptic attack, I'll be ready." I chuckled and put my arm around her, jointing the guys back in the corner.

"Cool!" a new voice said. This voice belonged to a figure, presumably a zombie. I drew back as the boys shouted in shock. Rose threw a left-hook, knocking the zombie to the ground. "Ow!" The figure took off a mask and turned out to be Rory. Rose's face flushed from lightly-tanned to pale. "It's me!"

"I am _so_ sorry, Rory!" She took his hand and helped him up. She made sure she fixed his hair and everything, placing a kiss on his bruised cheek. I chuckled.

"It's okay... Hey, is that hot chocolate?" he asked talking about the coffee maker. I shook my head. "Check out what I swiped from teachers' lounge. Hicks took this from me in September."

"Wait, you were in the teachers' lounge?"

"Candy, games, TV, couches." he recalled.

"Zombies." Benny pointed out.

"Really? I just thought they were all really grumpy."

"Look, right now, we have to get to the Chemistry lab." Ethan said, cutting the conversation.

"Chemistry? Boring. I'd rather smack me some zombies." He put back on his mask. "RV, away." He ran away in super-speed.

"You know, you can always go be his sidekick." I said to Rose, shrugging, seeing the disappointed and concerned look on her face.

"Nah, I'm too involved in this to play Batman and Robin right now." she denied, flicking her hand. I pressured a look on her. She looked back, pouting. "All right, but _please_ text me if anything goes wrong!"

"You have my word." I assured her. She nodded and ran away at human speed.

"We'd better rearm." The nearby fire-extinguisher was now in Ethan's hands.

"Totally. Let's get this cure thing going, huh?" Benny said, looking awfully suspicious with that nervous smile. I ignored him and led the way to the lab.

**.v.X.^.X.v.**

"I'm back!" Sarah announced, coming into the lab. We'd had been waiting there for a while, and a lot of shit happened in her absence. Even Rose had time to come and go. The fledging handed over the ecto-thingy.

"Thanks, did you see my mom?" Ethan asked her, retrieving the thing and adjusting it to the microscope he was using.

"We exchanged some words." she answered back. He took an eye-dropper and added a bit of the coffee in the slide. I fixated my bored gaze to Benny, who was sweating bullets.

"Damn, are you okay?" I inquired.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Pumped. Let's do this zombie cure!" he replied. My eyes drifted slowly from him back to the microscope.

"Okay, that's weird." Ethan remarked, staring through the lenses.

"What?" I asked. I was out of touch with all this science crap.

"The cells are neurons, like brain cells, but they're mutating." I nodded like I understood, when really I wasn't even sure what he was talking about was English.

"Yay... Monster-electrons!" I said, clapping.

"Neurons."

"_Whatever_." Another blow was taken on the door. The damn zombies snuffed us out again.

"Company! Speed up the geeking!" Sarah warned, going to the door with the extinguisher. I would've helped her fend them off, but my bones were flimsy and weak right now, and there wasn't a trace of blood anywhere... well, except in front of me, but I was sure if I bit one of the boys, I'd go all the way back to phase one, where no one liked or trusted me.

"You can't rush science!" Ethan corrected.

"You can if you don't want your brain eaten!" She started spraying.

"Wait, guys, the neurons are gone. It's just plain coffee now. It's like it just cured itself by just sitting there."

"Maybe it had to be fresh."

"I got it. It needs to be hot. That's why the zombies hate the extinguisher, because it's cold. Maybe if the zombies get cold, then the neurons inside them will resort back to coffee."

"That makes much more sense." I said, sitting down on a stool.

"Okay, so we just wait until December." Benny said, looking as though he could drown in his own sweat.

"Why can't we just blast the AC?" I questioned, shrugging. It seemed more logical than waiting until Santa came along.

Ethan nodded, saying, "Sounds like a plan. Guys, pack up, we gotta fight our way to the mechanical room."

"Who are you guys kidding? They'll break you like a fingernail, I'll do it." Sarah insisted, putting down the probably empty extinguisher.

"Well, only if you wanna go." Minus this comment, she left anyways. All there left to do was wait.

"What I would do for some blood right now..." I hinted, sighing dramatically. I looked at Ethan, then his wrist, then his face, then at his face again.

"Watch it. You've made it this far."

"Well, for the next attack, would you rather me die with you, or fight to defend you?" I tempted, holding my head up with one hand, my elbow on the hard marble of the counter. My eyes switched to across from me, where a ghostly-pale and wet Benny was. "Damn, do you need a bucket?" I exclaimed.

"Benny, what's up? You look really pale and sweaty. Did you get bit back there?" His best friend was full of concern it was overwhelming. This let me wonder what happened to Rose. Don't tell her I referred to her as my best friend.

"No. I got bit up here." He rolled up his sleeve to show off a fleshy mark. I didn't want to describe it too much. I was growing a little nauseous from looking at wounded flesh too long.

"Benny! Why didn't you tell us?"

"I thought you might get the cure... fix... brain... Can I bite your head?"

I sighed in frustration, turning my head to the back corner of the room, where the sinks were. Tap water... I conjured up an idea. "Hey. There's cold taps in the back of the room. Maybe we can keep him cool until Sarah flips the switch." I conjectured. I took the scarf from around my neck and went to the taps, soaking the cloth so that it was heavy with cold water, and until the whimsical, colorful pattern was dark. I turned off the water and went to him. I opened the scarf and tied it around his sweaty head. He flinched when the coldness hit him, but his stiff muscles loosened. "All right. How are you feeling now?"

"Still hot." he replied, sounding like he was talking in broken English.

"Stay with me, pretty boy–" I realized something. He was _finally_ talking to me now. "No more silent treatment, huh?"

"Well, when you're on the verge of dying, the silent treatment doesn't really imply." Now he wanted to upgrade his vocab? Lame.

"You're not gonna _die_."

"Yeah I am." He sighed, stretching his neck back.

Looking at his eyes, now dull, dark circles instead of sparked, exciting jades, I considered feeling pity for him. I hadn't the slightest idea of what a zombie-inflicted bite felt like, only a vampire bite. I only wished he preserved through the situation. Like I state before, I had unresolved feelings for Benny. I had many reasons. It wasn't those common reasons, for looks or popularity. He had been one of the only three people who actually had faith in me converging from a villain to a moderately-good heroine. He was hilarious, enough to cheer someone up on their darkest day. He was sweet and caring, and being around someone like this made me feel so humane, something I hadn't felt in a while. Rose was right when she said what she said weeks ago. I had a weakness, and part of it was sitting before me.

"Yes." I said out of nowhere.

"Yes, what?" Benny asked, sitting up.

"Yes, I'll go out with you."

"Isn't it a little too late for that?"

I chuckled, holding his hand tightly. "No, it't not. Because Sarah's gonna turn on that air conditioner, and you're gonna be cured, and then we can go out and do whatever you want afterward, seeing that by then, I'll be your girlfriend." He smiled when I mentioned 'girlfriend' and I moved the hair that was blocking his eyes. I pushed it back. "As much as it pains me to say this, I care about you, Benny. And I've made up my mind. I want to be with you, whether it's for six-hundred more years or sixty more."

He laughed, giving me a reassuring squeeze. "All it took was town-wide apocalypse to admit that, huh?"

I nodded. He yawned and put his head on the table. I hope he realized dating a creature of the night was way more complicated than Dusk made it look.

My senses twitched once the door burst open, zombie teachers pooling in the room slowly. I jumped up and grabbed Ethan's arm, dragging him to the back of the room with me.

My new _boyfriend_ rose from his chair, his head tilted down. I called for his name nervously. Low and behold, it was too late for him, and the neurons had already successfully rushed over him, monstrous features replacing his normal ones.

"Good God." I murmured. Something crashed through the window, two arms, and they grabbed Ethan's shoulders. I raised a chair, broke off its leg, and used that to hit the arms of the woman that attacked him, freeing him and making her haul back. I salvaged the rest if my strength to break off another leg and started hitting approaching teachers. Ethan armed himself with another extinguisher and started to spray them off.

Bodies started to fall like dominoes as a gush of cool, refreshing breeze flooded in. Finally, it took her long enough!

"Amen that's over for now." I praised, dropping the steel chair legs and dusting my hands. "Are you all right? No bruises or anything?" Ethan shook his head, out of breath.

Sarah proceeded into the room, examining the fallen zombies. "We good?"

"Yeah, the zombies are all cooled off and catching some Z's. I get tired from just looking at them." He yawned for emphasis.

"You know what you need? A coffee."

"No thanks, I'll pass."

I stepped over some bodies until I found half-unconscious Benny on the floor. Half-unconscious was the best way to describe it, since I didn't have a clue what this state was.

"Mocha latte, no foam." he stammered out. His head dropped to the floor and I chuckled in spite.

"My boyfriend, everybody." It scared me that I was proud to say that, but I brushed off this feeling and planted my hands on my hips, like it had just been an ordinary day.

**.v.X.^.X.v.**

Coming home, I had to carry two bodies in tow: Rose, who I found in the back of the school, unconscious (so much for bravery) and Benny, since I felt bad and decided to fill him up to speed with a cup of hot chocolate.

I dragged Rose to her room, throwing her comforter over her and handling a cup of tea on her bedside table. By the time I returned to the hallway, Benny was waking up, regaining consciousness and knowing where he was. I grabbed a blanket from my bedroom and brought his hot chocolate. I sat next to him in the hall, handing him the hot cocoa and tucking him in the blanket, as if I were his mother. He looked at the the mug, then at me, his eyebrow raised.

"It's hot chocolate." I clarified. "To warm you up. Aren't you cold?" He nodded, hesitantly taking a sip. "This is awkward."

He put the mug down on the floorboards, swallowing. "Well, let's make it not awkward."

"How–" His lips smashed into mine to silence me. I shut my eyes and accepted the kiss, placing my hand on his cheek, his soft skin like a marshmallow. His hand rested at my hip, then travelled up my shirt, his fingers dancing along my stomach. I broke the kiss in order to breath, like it was necessary, then climbed on of him, both of my hands on each cheek. He took the blanket and wrapped it around me as my body pressed closed to his.

* * *

**_Kisses! ~TwistedTelepath_**


End file.
